About
World War II (1939-1945)
Leon Synfelt was born in Fort Edward, New York, on February 10, 1923. By 1930, he was living in the city of Schenectady with his family. He graduated from Mont Pleasant High School in 1942, and before entering the military, he worked for General Electric.
On January 5, 1943, Leon enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. He was a Nose Gunner on the B-24J “Lassie Come Home” with the 707th Bomber Squadron, 446th Bomber Group. When "Lassie Come Home" crashed in Germany, Leon was on a bombing mission over Misburg, Germany. On November 4, 1944, a German policeman shot him while he was a prisoner of war in the woods near Salzdetfurth, Germany. He is remembered at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Rotterdam, New York.
*B-24J "Lassie Come Home" #42-51356
*Staff Sergeant
Sources: The Schenectady Gazette, Find A Grave, Ancestry