Leroy E. Johnson was born on March 24, 1925, in Revere, Redwood County, Minnesota. He was the son of Daisy Ellen Hegwood Johnson. He served in the 20th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Sergeant and Waist Gunner of B-17 #42-31885 nicknamed 'Lovely Ladies' during World War II.

On August 29, 1944, during Mission 263, the Air Battle over the White Carpathians, the 15th U.S. Air Force launched a bombing raid from Italy against the Moravská Ostrava industrial complex in occupied Czechoslovakia. The formation met fierce resistance from German fighters and flak, and the 20th Bomb Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, lost all eight of its B-17s. Among them was B-17G “Lovely Ladies” (42-31885), which was heavily damaged by enemy fire and exploded in midair before crashing near Vyškovec, Czech Republic. Of its ten crew members, nine were killed, and navigator 2Lt Charles H. McVey was the sole survivor, captured and held as a prisoner of war.

Sgt Johnson was one of the 28 U.S. airmen laid to rest in a mass grave at Slavicin, Czechoslovakia, before being exhumed and interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA. Because of the difficult identification, he was buried in a common grave with 6 other crew members KIA during the same mission.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, b17flyingfortress.de, www.leteckabitvakarpaty.cz