Leland Hedges Pennington ★ World War II Gold Star Veteran from New York
On April 21, 1945 Flight Officer Pennington was declared a casualty of World War II. ★ He served with honor in the United States Army Air Forces. ★ He is remembered by the people of New York. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Click to Submit Update Request for this Fallen Service Member▼ Content Integrity Note
Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of Leland Hedges Pennington is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2023-09-15 00:33:51.
Missing : Core Data
· Date of tour or service
Missing : Supplemental Data
· Birth + childhood location· Educational background
· Marriage history
· Parents, family history
· Expanded references and citations
Service Details
| This Profile ID | 323456 |
| Service ID | T-064646 |
| Name | Leland Hedges Pennington |
| From | Rochester, Monroe County, New York |
| Birth Date | April 7, 1922 |
| Casualty Date | April 21, 1945 |
| War | World War II |
| Service Branch | Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Flight Officer |
| Specialty | Pilot |
| Unit/Group | 332nd Fighter Group, 301st Fighter Squadron |
| Casualty Type | Non Hostile, Died Missing in action body not recovered |
| Location | Adriatic Sea |
| Burial | Tablets of the Missing, American Cemetery, Sicily-Rome, Italy |
| Notable Awards |
★ Air Medal |
| Remembered | 
Leland Hedges Pennington is buried or memorialized at Tablets of the Missing, American Cemetery, Sicily-Rome, Italy. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. |
Additional Details
Leland H "Sticks" Pennington was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen.On April 21, 1945 he was piloting his P-51B Mustang during a bomber escort mission when he had some kind of mechanical problem. He disappeared and crashed into either the sea or one of the islands a few miles west of Zara, Italy. His remains were not recovered. ▼ Auto-Generated Profile Synopsis: Leland Hedges Pennington was serving his country during World War II when he gave his all in the line of duty. He had enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. Entered the service via Regular Military. Pennington had the rank of Flight Officer. His military occupation or specialty was Pilot. Service number assignment was T-064646. Attached to 332nd Fighter Group, 301st Fighter Squadron.
He was born on April 7, 1922. According to our records New York was his home or enlistment state and Monroe county has been included within the archival record. We have Rochester listed as his city. During his service in World War II, Army Air Forces Flight Officer Pennington was reported missing and ultimately declared dead on April 21, 1945. Recorded circumstances attributed to: Non Hostile, Died Missing in action body not recovered. Incident location: Adriatic Sea. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Air Medal
★ United States Aviator Badge Army
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Army Good Conduct Medal
★ European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.New York Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of New York who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▼ New York was home to over 30,000 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 6,366 World War I
• 16,838 World War II
• 2,672 Korean War
• 4,124 Vietnam War
• 397 Prisoners of war
• 8,599 Missing in action
• 94 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 329 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 40 Medal of Honor recipients
• 16,838 World War II
• 2,672 Korean War
• 4,124 Vietnam War
• 397 Prisoners of war
• 8,599 Missing in action
• 94 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 329 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 40 Medal of Honor recipients
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
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