Leonard Irving Kronheim was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 1st November 1920.His parents, Rae and Jacob emigrated from Hungary to the USA. He graduatedfrom Cleveland Heights High School and attended one year of college in Ohio.Thereafter he was employed as a sales representative for a furnituremanufacturing company.
After enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in January 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrisonin Indiana, he trained as a pilot on several bases in Colorado, Michigan andTexas.
According to a roster of personnel sent to the commanding general NATO,USA, Kronheim was assigned as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force to the459th Bombardment Group on 16th June 1944.
As a pilot of B-24 and B-17 bomber aircraft, Kronheim had the distinction offlying for both the 8th Air Force and the 15th Air Force. He flew a total of 50missions from both War Theaters.
In 1948 he was recruited by the Haganah and met up with other recruits inNew York. He flew to Mexico in June 1948 to pick up old US combat aircraftwhich were then flown back to Florida. From there he flew on to the Azoresand then to Czechoslovakia where they loaded the planes with supplies andflew to Israel, landing at Lod Airport.
Leonard returned to the USA in October 1948. He passed away in Clevelandon 18th December 1965.
See article published in the Cleveland Jewish News in September 1989
Source: Leonard’s daughter Jill Kronheim Cohen, July 2015.
