Captain Leland Price Lewis was born March 25, 1924 in San Mateo, California.  His father Edgar Hubert Lewis had immigrated to the United States from England as an infant in 1887.  Edgar was a shipbuilder by trade before owning a car dealership by the time Leland was born. In the early 1930s Edgar sold his business and moved the family to the remote redwood country in Humboldt County along the north coast of California.  When World War II broke out Leland and Edgar returned to the San Francisco area to work in the shipyards. Leland enlisted in the Army Air Force as an Aviation Cadet and began flight training in March 1943 at the age of 19.  After
receiving his wings and being commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant he qualified in the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter.  Assigned to the 527th Fighter Squadron of the 86th Fighter Group (12th Air Force) Leland flew his first combat mission in July 1944 from Poretta Airfield on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. Leland flew 31 combat missions over southern France and Italy before his squadron moved to Italy and later to France.  After surviving over 100 combat missions he was shot down over Germany March 16, 1945.  Though injured while bailing out of his crippled P-47, Leland evaded capture for a day before being captured.  He remained a Prisoner of War for the remaining six weeks of the war in Europe.  Following his release Leland spent time in a Swiss hospital recovering from his injuries before returning to the United States.  His awards included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal (with four oak leaf clusters) and Purple Heart. After leaving the service Leland returned to school and became a Cadastral Engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He married Emma Carolee Gardner in 1949 and they raised 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys).  Carolee Gardner was descended from early immigrants who came to the Massachusetts colony in 1624 before working their way to northern California in 1879. Over the next ten years Leland and his family led a nomadic life as he and his survey crew traveled throughout several western states surveying public lands and were rarely in a single location for more than a month. In 1960 Leland transferred to the Bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.  Sadly, he passed away from cancer December 28, 1967 at the age of 43. Carolee remarried and returned to northern California, where she passed away in 1999 and is buried in a small Humboldt County pioneer cemetery.  Leland now rests in Section B of Culpeper National Cemetery.

Note:  Biographical information and photographs of Captain Lewis courtesy of his son Kevin Lewis and Kevin’s cousin Tom Tucker

This is a photo of 86th Fighter Group P-47s in formation. 

Culpeper National Cemetery

Captain Leland Price Lewis was born March 25, 1924 in San Mateo, California.  His father Edgar Hubert Lewis had immigrated to the United States from England as an infant in 1887.  Edgar was a shipbuilder by trade before owning a car dealership by the time Leland was born. In the early 1930s Edgar sold his business and moved the family to the remote redwood country in Humboldt County along the north coast of California.  When World War II broke out Leland and Edgar returned to the San Francisco area to work in the shipyards. Leland enlisted in the Army Air Force as an Aviation Cadet and began flight training in March 1943 at the age of 19.  After receiving his wings and being commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant he qualified in the Republic P-47D Thunderbolt fighter.  Assigned to the 527th Fighter Squadron of the 86th Fighter Group (12th Air Force) Leland flew his first combat mission in July 1944 from Poretta Airfield on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. Leland flew 31 combat missions over southern France and Italy before his squadron moved to Italy and later to France.  After surviving over 100 combat missions he was shot down over Germany March 16,
1945.  Though injured while bailing out of his crippled P-47, Leland evaded capture for a day before being captured.  He remained a Prisoner of War for the remaining six weeks of the war in Europe.  Following his release Leland spent time in a Swiss hospital recovering from his injuries before returning to the United States.  His awards included the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal (with four oak leaf clusters) and Purple Heart.
After leaving the service Leland returned to school and became a Cadastral Engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He married Emma Carolee Gardner in 1949 and they raised 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys).  Carolee Gardner was descended from early immigrants who came to the Massachusetts colony in 1624 before working their way to northern California in 1879.
Over the next ten years Leland and his family led a nomadic life as he and his survey crew traveled throughout several western states surveying public

 lands and were rarely in a single location for more than a month. In 1960 Leland transferred to the Bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.  Sadly, he passed away from cancer December 28, 1967 at the age of 43. Carolee remarried and returned to northern California, where she passed away in 1999 and is buried in a small Humboldt County pioneer cemetery.  Leland now
rests in Section B of Culpeper National Cemetery.

Note:  Biographical information and photographs of Captain Lewis courtesy of his son Kevin Lewis and Kevin’s cousin Tom Tucker

LELAND PRICE LEWIS

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