On this date in 1918, William Henry Leder was born in Flasher, North Dakota, to Carl Benjamin and Helena Augusta Leder. Bill went to school in Mandan and, after graduating from Mandan High School, went on to the North Dakota State Teachers College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Leder taught school in North Dakota for several years before enlisting in the Navy in April of 1941. He was initially stationed at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In October of that year, he became an aviation cadet and attended flight training at the Pensacola Naval Air Station on the Florida Gulf Coast. He was commissioned as an ensign in May of 1942.
That same month, he married his sweetheart, Kathryn Sylvia Loran, before being transferred in June to a carrier training group in San Diego.
By August 1942, he was assigned to Fighting Squadron 10, also known as The Grim Reapers, flying the Grumman F4F Wildcat. He was sent to the Pacific Theater and operated from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. Leder flew with the renowned Cactus Air Force, supporting the Guadalcanal campaign against superior Japanese forces.
He flew from the Enterprise during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands and participated in multiple combat air patrols in defense of his carrier group. On October 26, he shot down at least one Japanese dive bomber that was attacking the Enterprise.
On November 13, 1942, he was part of a four-plane flight combat patrol over the Enterprise that shot down a Japanese patrol bomber. Later, on January 30, 1943, Leder shot down a torpedo bomber that was attacking the cruiser USS Chicago, which was sitting damaged near Rennell Island.
Leder was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross by his commander and was ultimately awarded the Air Medal Citation for his actions against the Japanese.
After his tour in the Pacific, Leder was assigned to the Ellensburg Army Airfield in Ellensburg, Washington, and because of his superb flying abilities, served as a test pilot on new aircraft.
On September 5, 1943, the experimental airplane he was flying caught fire and crashed near the airfield. Lieutenant William Henry Leder was killed. He was 25 years old. William was laid to rest at Washelli Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.
Dakota Datebook by Scott Nelson
Sources:
- Wikipedia, William H. Leder, Air Medal Recipient.
- William H. Leder, ND Department of Veteran Affairs.
- William Henry Leder, www.findagrave.com
