Leonard Anthony Marino was born at Swissvale, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1914. He was the oldest of four children. His father was Fortunato Marino (1 Jan 1888 – 1965), who was born at Terranova di Sicilia, Italy (now called Gela) and immigrated to America about 1903. His mother was Josephine (Lonero) Marino (1898 – 1933), who was born in Italy and immigrated to America about 1903. The family lived in Rankin, Pennsylvania and in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, both suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. His father was a cobbler and owned a shoe repair business. His mother died in 1933.
He had three brothers: Peter A. Marino (5 Jul 1916 – 28 Jul 1963), Albert A. Marino (1920 – 1984), and Joseph A. Marino (20 Sep 1923 – 11 Jun 1944). During World War II his brother Peter served in combat with Battery C, 959th Field Artillery Battalion. His brother Joseph was killed in action in France on June 11, 1944 while serving with Company A, 147th Engineer Combat Battalion.
He completed one year of college and worked as a sales clerk at a state liquor store. His wife was Betty M. (McCoy) Marino (3 Dec 1915 – unk). They married at Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on September 17, 1940. They had a son, Leonard F. Marino.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Greensburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1943. He was 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall and weighed 185 pounds. He had brown eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion, and shoe size 9 1/2 D. His home of record was 2016 Monongahela Avenue, Swissvale, Pennsylvania.
After training he was assigned as flight engineer and gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Jack Leon in the 837th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. This Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Leon crew arrived at Station 137 by November 30, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.
On March 18, 1945 Lt Leon's crew flew B-17G 44-8276 on a mission to bomb railroad marshalling yards at Berlin, Germany. Just before bombs away the aircraft was crippled by flak. Lt Leon initially tried to reach a safe landing site in Poland, but the crew was forced to bail out about ten miles east of the Oder River near Massin, Germany (now called Mosina, in Lubuskie Province, Poland). T/Sgt Marino and his crewmate T/Sgt John L. Sunberg were killed by Russian Yak fighters that strafed the men after they bailed out. Seven men parachuted safely.
The bodies of T/Sgts Marino and Sunberg were buried in the vicinity of Massin by Russian troops. After the war this area was in the Russian sector of Germany, which limited the access of American Graves Registration personnel. A field investigation by American personnel in April 1948 determined that they were not buried in the town cemetery of Mosina, Poland (formerly Massin, Germany). In a letter to the U.S. Quartermaster Corps in October 1948, pilot Jack Leon estimated that the graves "are within a three (3) mile radius of the town of Massin, Germany [Mosina, Poland]."
T/Sgts Marino and Sunberg are still listed as missing in action. They are memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery at Margraten.
A monument to Technical Sergeants Marino and Sunberg was dedicated at Mosina, Poland on March 18, 2017. The initiative for the monument came from Dariusz Jaworski, the Mayor of Witnica, Poland.
B-17G 44-8276 crew:
• Leon, Jack – 1/Lt – Pilot – Safe
• Polen, Robert C – 2/Lt – Copilot – Safe
• Shaw, Robert W – F/O – Bombardier – Safe
• Dolin, Leon – 2/Lt – Navigator – Safe
• Marino, Leonard A – T/Sgt – Engineer – KIA
• Sunberg, John L – T/Sgt – Radio Operator – KIA
• Hopkin, Rees W – S/Sgt – Ball Turret Gunner – Safe
• Moore, Ralph L – S/Sgt – Waist Gunner – Safe
• Beeson, John D – S/Sgt – Tail Gunner – Safe
Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com