 f[Back to 'Roster']  First Lieutenant Leroy R. Nelson, (1918 - ), was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania on
October 28, 1918. After graduation from Aliquippa High School in 1937, he attended three
years of college at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. He joined the Army Aviation
Cadet Program in 1942 and graduated flight school from Marfa, Texas, Class 43H, on August
30, 1943. He then headed off to Pensacola, Florida and was one of a group who went through
the syllabus of U.S. Navy Flight Training and earned his U.S. Navy gold wings (seen below)
in the non amphibious Consolidated PBY-5.Lieutenant Nelson joined the 2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron in April 1944 when they moved from Hamilton Field, California to Keesler Field, Biloxie, Mississippi. They were preparing to deploy overseas to join the war effort in the Pacific. Captain Nelson flew in an OA-10A from Sacramento, California over the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to Hawaii, then continued to Townsville, Australia. He flew his first mission with the 2nd ERS on 28 July 1944 and continued flying until the war was over in August 1945 participating in numerous other air-sea rescues. He redeployed to the United States in November 1945, joined the Air Force Reserve in 1946, and finished his academics at Muskingum College. He finally ended his military career with the Air Force Reserve in 1950. Mr. Nelson has logged over 3,500 total flight hours in his career both with the military and as a civilian. He is still an active private pilot, flying his Cessna 182 all over the country. As a civilian, Mr. Nelson worked for the Shell Oil
Company for 37 years, retiring in 1981.
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