First Name: Michael

Last Name: Leonard

Middle Initial:

Date of Birth: N/A

Sex: Male

Martial Status: Not Sure

Number of Children: Not Sure

Home Town: Detroit, Michigan

Education Completed: Not Sure

Other Occupations:

Branch of  Service: Army

Highest Rank: N/A

Serial Number: N/A

Platoon: N/A

Age at Start of Service: Not Sure

Years of Service: less than 1

Combat Veteran: Yes

Time in Combat: Not Sure

Place of Combat: N/A

Awards:

Date of Suicide: N/A

Suicide Method: gunshot to head

Veteran’s Story: Mike survived a tour in Vietnam. Stationed in Germany, he encountered extreme pressure from other black soldiers to affiliate with radical race-based groups in the U.S. Army. Mike had no concept of race, and could hardly remember what race a person was. He volunteered for another tour of duty to SEA to escape the verbal and physical attacks. He participated in the incursion into Cambodia on his second tour. On one of his tours he pulled a pilot from a burning helcopter, earning a medal. Mike came home, married, moved to San Angelo, Texas. His two children both died of SIDS. He sometime later took his own life.

Submitted By: Dean B. Mohr

Relationship to Veteran: Relative