Leslie Earl Kraus was born at Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky on March 7, 1923. He was the only child of Earl John Kraus (6 Aug 1900 – 10 Oct 1937) and Elizabeth E. 'Bess' (Reinersman) Kraus (3 Oct 1900 – 3 Feb 1991). His parents married about 1922. His father, a well-known speedboat racer in northern Kentucky and the Greater Cincinnati area, was killed in a boat racing accident in 1937. His home of record was 617 Durrett Street, Covington, Kentucky. He attended La Salette Academy Catholic elementary school, and graduated from Holmes High School in Covington in the class of 1941 1/2. He worked as a machine operator (gear cutter) at Wright Aeronautical Corporation in Lockland, Ohio, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Cincinnati, Ohio on January 19, 1943. His Army serial number is 35683235. (It has also been reported incorrectly as 35794435.)

He completed Army Air Forces basic training at Saint Petersburg, Florida; radio operator training at Scott Field, Illinois; and aerial gunnery training at Tyndall Field, Florida. He was then assigned as radio operator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph S. Van Dyke, in the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. In December 1943 the Van Dyke crew began B-24 crew training at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona. In January 1944 the Van Dyke crew was assigned to the 836th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico. There they completed B-24 crew training, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. The crew flew B-24H 41-28822 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

S/Sgt Kraus and his eight crewmates were killed in action on June 23, 1944, when their aircraft, B-24H 41-28822, was shot down near Brussels, Belgium after bombing an airfield at Juvincourt, France. The aircraft was hit by flak in the open bomb bay. It exploded in the air and fell in pieces near a hospice in Rue du Paloke, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, a western suburb of Brussels (aka Palokestraat, Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Bruxelles, Belgium).

S/Sgt Kraus was buried initially at Evere Cemetery in Brussels, Belgium. His remains were returned to the United States and reinterred at Saint John's Cemetery, Fort Mitchell, Kentucky in 1949.

B-24H 41-28822 crew:
• Van Dyke, Joseph S – 2/Lt – Pilot – KIA
• Thies, Merle J – 2/Lt – Copilot – KIA
• Zebora, Rudolph J – 2/Lt – Navigator – KIA
• Kraus, Leslie E – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Glenn, James R – Sgt – Ball Turret – KIA
• Crossley, Charles H – S/Sgt – Top Turret – KIA
• Spindler, William H – Sgt – Tail Turret – KIA
• Rupe, Bradford A – Sgt – Nose Turret – KIA
• Snead, John E – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com