George WASHINGTON, a man who knew war firsthand, once said: “My first wish is to see the plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.”

Almost a century later, while speaking at a conference of the Grand Army of the Republic on August 11, 1880, William Tecumseh SHERMAN, another man who was acquainted with the ravages of war, reaffirmed WASHINGTON’s words:

“There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell. You can bear this warning to generations yet to come. I look upon war with horror.”

Since the time of these two generals, the world has seen too many wars with too many young lives lost to this plague of horror.

This is the story of one of our young men from School District 15 whose life was sacrificed during World War II. Tears sometimes fell as I attempted to piece together and write Danny’s story—Betty Gaeng.

          Danny’s mother was estranged from her parents, and since there was no one to claim him after her death, Danny was adjudged an orphan and placed in Jeff’s Orphanage, which was located on East Highway, Christopher Precinct, King County, Washington.  At that time his age was given as seven.  A short while later, Danny became a ward of the Washington Children’s Home Society and became a resident in Seattle’s Brown Hall, located in Ravenna Heights at Northeast 85th Street and 33rd Avenue Northeast.

          Later, Danny’s maternal grandparents, Oscar and Odessa PATTERSON of Seattle, who had previously taken Danny’s older sister Leona into their household, became his guardians.  Shortly thereafter, the family moved further north to the community of Alderwood Manor in Snohomish County.  Danny was enrolled in Alderwood Manor Grade School.  He then attended the old Edmonds High School at Fourth and Daley Streets in Edmonds.

          Danny left school before graduation, and began learning a trade.  His grandfather died in the late spring of 1941.

      In Europe and Asia, aggression and war was spreading.  The United States, still neutral, was slowly recovering from the Great Depression.  Families were strapped financially, and many young men were leaving school to help with family finances.  As it became more and more likely that the conflicts would soon involve the United States, many young men enlisted in the Washington National Guard.

          Like many young men, Danny decided to enter the service.  Records show that he enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 19, 1941, less than a month following the death of his grandfather.  Danny’s birth year is given as 1921; his education was shown as two years of high school, with some skill as a mechanic and repairman of motor vehicles.  He was shown as single, with no dependents.

          As a private in the Signal Corps, Danny underwent basic training in California.  Following a short training period, he was assigned to the Philippines.

          Danny soon knew the full horror of war.  At the time of Japan’s attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Danny was in one of the most dangerous places possible, the Southwest Pacific Theatre, Philippine Islands.  For those familiar with the history of that time, several names evoke horror of man’s inhumanity to man—one of those names is Bataan.

          The World War II Prisoners of War database states that reports through sources considered official show that Dan M. LEONARD was taken prisoner by Japan, placed in Camp 504, and died there during 1942 while a prisoner of war.  Danny endured the infamous Bataan Death March and the atrocities committed against those held prisoner by the Japanese Army.

          Over two years later, Danny’s family received a final determination notice from the War Department affirming that Danny was declared officially dead as of May 7, 1942.  On July 31, 1944, Danny’s older sister, Leona (LEONARD) BLAKE received Danny’s Purple Heart from the War Department.  Danny was also awarded a Presidential Citation.

          During World War II, the remains of Americans killed overseas were recovered and identified by the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army and then placed in temporary burial places set up for that purpose.  Later permanent cemeteries were established overseas, and the next of kin had the option of burial of their loved ones either in those cemeteries or returned to the United States for burial near their homes.

          Danny came home in 1948.  “Body of Private Leonard is Returned for Burial” was the heading of the obituary for Danny LEONARD as it appeared in the August 10, 1948 edition of the Edmonds Tribune-Review.  Danny’s funeral service was held on Saturday, August 12, 1948 at Swedberg’s Funeral Home in Edmonds, with Rev. Eugene TRAIN of the Esperance Community Church and Alderwood Manor American Legion Post 90 officiating.  Danny was laid to rest at the pioneer cemetery in Edmonds—a cemetery now known as Edmonds Memorial Cemetery.

          On Wednesday, September 2, 2009, with a friend Halide PATTERSON next to me, I stood beside Danny’s grave for the first time.  We both wept for the young man who had more than his share of unhappiness during his short life.  A young man whose last days were filled with pain, hardship and terrible indignities.

          Many years after the death of Danny LEONARD, Halide (LOBDELL) Patterson married Danny’s uncle, Robert PATTERSON.  Halide has given permission for the telling of Danny’s story.

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Sources

Edmonds Tribune-Review, Edmonds, Washington

Ancestry.com – World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946

Ancestry.com – U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

1930 U.S. Federal Census records

Death Records—Washington State Digital Archives