Grouping of Captain Leonard Harmon

[LYONSJ9]

The grouping of US Navy Captain Leonard Harmon: 1938 graduate of the USNA, Navy Pilot, and one of only 217 US Naval personnel awarded decorations by the Soviet Union during WWII, having earned the Order of Glory 3rd Class for severely damaging the German Submarine U-966, which was eventually scuttled by her crew off the Spanish coast.

 

After spotting U-966, Harmon and the crew of his B-24 (along with another B-24) immediately began their attack, making several strafing runs over the U-Boat while encountering heavy flak from her anti aircraft gun. This flak severely damaged the B-24’s Bombay doors, rendering her unable to bomb the German vessel, and her primary armament useless. In spite of this heavy damage, and the ongoing barrage of flak from the enemy submarine, Harmon continued his attacks until running dangerously low on fuel, which forced him to return to England. Later on, more allied planes continued to attack the U-Boat, continuing to inflict massive damage which eventually forced her commander, Eckehard Wolf to scuttle her.

 

For his relentless bravery, Harmon and his crew were highly decorated, with Harmon receiving the US Distinguished Flying Cross, the British Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Soviet Order of Glory 3rd Class.

 

Though Harmon refused to wear his Soviet Award during his post war career due to the tensions of the Cold War, he continued to wear the ribbon until his retirement from the Navy in 1968. He would pass away in 1998, and would be buried with full military honors at the Calverton National Cemetery in New York.

 

This grouping features his: Theater Made Ribbons and Wings, Cap, original photographs, Command at Sea Badge, and his Uniform (not pictured), with the Ribbon bar having been prominently featured in the Dave Schwind book “Blue Seas, Red Stars”.

 

 

 

 

Featured below are the original photos and report filed by another crew involved in the attack:

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GAZOO]

  A true Hero with a mission
These guys threw everything they had at each other and lived to see the end
of the war
 

 Think about it Lt Harmon finds U-966 on the surface and starts his Head On
depth charge run, the flak is everywhere and when he attempts to drop the
load its non functional, Now he has a Full load of HIGH explosive open to
enemy fire and decides to do More HEAD ON strafing gun runs In a damaged
lumbering Aircraft Its LIKE doing a Lone frontal assault on a MACHINE Gun Nest
Getting away with it,  turn around and do it again and again ? Who does that
Only Heros with a mission

U-966 was fighting for its Life BUT Lt Harmon had a Damaged aircraft and
still kept bringing the fight to Wolf He had a very good reason to break off
and never did Only low fuel made him stop. The HERO was Harmon
against all odds he kept the faith and forced the contact over and over

[manayunkman]

Very nice group that slipped by.

[LYONSJ9]

1 hour ago, GAZOO said:

  A true Hero with a mission
These guys threw everything they had at each other and lived to see the end
of the war
 

 Think about it Lt Harmon finds U-966 on the surface and starts his Head On
depth charge run, the flak is everywhere and when he attempts to drop the
load its non functional, Now he has a Full load of HIGH explosive open to
enemy fire and decides to do More HEAD ON strafing gun runs In a damaged
lumbering Aircraft Its LIKE doing a Lone frontal assault on a MACHINE Gun Nest
Getting away with it,  turn around and do it again and again ? Who does that
Only Heros with a mission

U-966 was fighting for its Life BUT Lt Harmon had a Damaged aircraft and
still kept bringing the fight to Wolf He had a very good reason to break off
and never did Only low fuel made him stop. The HERO was Harmon
against all odds he kept the faith and forced the contact over and over

Thanks Gazoo!

[GAZOO]

39 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

Very nice group that slipped by.

Well there was a little bit left :)

[LYONSJ9]

39 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

Very nice group that slipped by.

Thanks Manayunkman. This is one of my favorites.

[Paddyd00]

Very cool indeed. I love items that get bumped randomly. Many of these deserve to be seen again. Great read and grouping. 
Z

[Skysoldier80]

Amazing grouping.

[LYONSJ9]

20 hours ago, Paddyd00 said:

Very cool indeed. I love items that get bumped randomly. Many of these deserve to be seen again. Great read and grouping. 
Z

Thanks Paddy!

[LYONSJ9]

20 hours ago, Skysoldier80 said:

Amazing grouping.

Thanks Skysoldier!