Leroy William Peterson was born on June 11, 1907 in Ashford, Alabama. He was the son of George David and Rhoda Broyles Peterson. He entered the service from Alabama. After basic training, he was sent to aerial gunnery school, and then assigned to a B-17 crew for combat training. He was sent to England, assigned to the 561st Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group. He flew as right waist gunner for the Robert Thompson crew on an aircraft named "Lady Margaret/Old 66." His first mission with this crew was on March 2, 1944.

On May 8, 1944, he was assigned to fly with a different crew, that of Lt. Pittman. The briefed target was Berlin. The Group put up 34 aircraft but 10 aborted due to mechanical failures or weather. The remaining ones arrived at the Dutch coast where they were met with moderate resistance. The remaining Pathfinder (PFF) aircraft was shot down.

When the formation arrived at the target, they found 10/10 cloud cover and could not bomb visually. The 2nd Air Division had sortied and bombed only minutes before, so all bombs were dropped on the 2nd AD's PFF flares.

On the return trip, the formation was attacked by 100 enemy fighters in waves of 20. During the melee, several aircraft were damaged and two were shot down. Lt Pittman's aircraft was one of them. The crew managed to bail out although Peterson was killed in the fighter attack, and several other crew members were badly wounded. The aircraft crashed near Martfeld, adjacent to Bremen.

SSgt Peterson is buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery at Neuville-en-Crodroz, Belgium. He also has a cenotaph located in Riverview Cemetery, Martins Ferry, Belmont County, Ohio. He was one of the many brave Americans of the 388th Bomber Group who lost their lives in aerial operations against the German forces from June 1943 - August 1945.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, airforce.togetherweserved.com