Leonidas E. Eagan was born in 1909. He resided in Colorado and was a member of the Colorado National Guard prior to the war. His National Guard unit was called into full time active Army service on February 24, 1941, prior to the war, out of Colorado. He was noted, at that time, as being employed as a cook and also as Single, without dependents. Leonidas served as a Staff Sergeant, 557th Field Artillery Battalion, U.S. Army during World War II.

On May 23, 1945, he was a passenger on Flight C-46D (4-77507) which was taking 41 American soldiers that were ill, injured, or repatriated prisoners of war to hospitals in the Paris, France area and was then eventually going to take them all back to the United States. This flight occurred after Germany's surrender on May 7, 1945. However this C-46, for unknown reasons, developed a fire in one of it's two engines and crashed near the village of Taillefontaine, near Paris. All men aboard were killed in the crash. SSGT Eagan is now buried in the Epinal American Cemetery, Dinozé, France.

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