The novel, Love of Country Leads Me, is based on the true story of Leo Carlton. As such, there are photos of people, places and things that help tell his story.
Leo Carlton enlisted in the United States Army in May 1942 at the age of twenty. He would bounce around the country for the next 18 months preparing for war. He made stops in Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Nevada.
During his training, Leo Carlton flew a PT-17 Stearman aircraft. He would eventually pilot a B-24 Liberator in the skies over Europe in May-June 1944.
Leo Carlton – Off to War
Leo Carlton trained with nine other men in a B-24 Liberator. In March 1944, these men flew 13,000 miles to their assigned base near Cerignola, Italy. They arrived on May 2, 1944, and flew several missions together over Europe. These maps show the route they flew to Europe along with some of the missions they flew.
Leo Carlton – Prisoner of War
On June 9, 1944, after sustaining damage over Germany, the Cherry II crew made an emergency landing at a glider airfield in Austria. They were less than one mile from the Swiss border.
After landing near Höchst, Austria, the Cherry II’s crew was marched two miles to a building at the city’s center. The crew underwent interrogation throughout the afternoon and subsequently spent their initial night as Prisoners of War (POWs) in the attic of this building.
Leo was processed as a prisoner of war in Dulag Luft (near Frankfurt, Germany) and later transported to Stalag Luft III near Sagan, Poland. He arrived three months after the famous Great Escape event where 76 Allied airmen escaped from the camp’s North Compound via an underground tunnel. In June 1944, Leo was assigned to the West Compound. In late January 1945, more than 10,000 POWs marched 53 miles, despite the bitterly cold winter temperatures.
Leo Carlton – Returning Home
Shortly after returning home from Europe, Leo and Lois didn’t waste any time. They eloped to Ely, Nevada, and tied the knot on June 14, 1945.
