US Army PFC Leon A. Barron was born in Walnut Hill, Escambia County, Florida on July 7, 1914, the son of James Calhoun Barron (1871-1923) and Margaret "Maggie" Elizabeth "Maggie" Mayo (1878-1961) His parents had married in Santa Rosa County, Florida in 1897 and moved to Canoe in Escambia County, Alabama where he took up work as a blacksmith. By 1920, He and Maggie had moved south to Walnut Hill where John became a farmer with a little logging on the side. Three years later, his he had become a foreman for a logging company when he passed away in 1923.
As for Leon, he attended Walnut High and Atmore High School and would marry a girl from McCullough, Miss Mary Emma Wise (1913-2012) in May 1937 and a daughter Mary Lee soon followed. Emma was the daughter of farmers, William Henry Wise (1866-1944) and Emma Nebraska King (18789-1945). Leon and Emma began their life together in Atmore, Alabama where Leon was working for the Atmore Sales Company in 1940. Eventually, they moved to Pensacola to 520 East Leonard Street where he was working as a salesman for a fire insurance company. Two years later, he was a driver for the Pensacola Coach Corporation and then a laborer for the Hardaway Construction Company while living at 47 E. Chase Street.
Then came the war and Leon was inducted into the US Army on January 23, 1943, and was sent to Ft. McClellan, AL for processing and orientation. After his basic training he was assigned to the 102nd Cavalry reconnaissance Squadron (mechanized) and sailed for England in July 1943. Their first combat assignment was the king of them all, Omaha Beach on D-Day+2! For two days, the squadron stayed aboard LST #16, a thousand yards off the beach as they were pounded by enemy artillery and bombers. As soon as they landed on June 8th, they unpacked their vehicles and drove forward six miles. After tough fighting, they passed through Caumont and on to the Cerisy Forest. For days they pushed the enemy toward the St. Lo Road defensive lines taking numerous casualties as they went forward. On June 14, 1944, Leon was acting as a forward scout (point man) on foot in front of his mounted recon platoon. As he entered a wooded area, he was suddenly caught in a three-way crossfire from German machine gun emplacements. Shot in the head, he fell into a ditch, but continually exposed himself to direct fire into the enemy guns. He was again wounded as he attempted to assist his comrades. Finally, he was pulled to safety but died of his wounds on June 22, 1944. His body was turned over to graves registration and eventually buried in the Brittany American Cemetery, Normandie, France where he rests today.
A telegraph was received by his wife Emma at their home at 1107 North "R" Street in October 1944 informing her of her husband's death. The nation offered their regrets for her lost as she set about to provide what life she could for herself and young daughter. Sadly, her familial support system had been devastated when her father passed away five months before Leon and her mother died six months after Leon was killed.
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