How Leo B. Leonard and His Sons met with President Eisenhower

During the summer of 1940 the Army had their most ambitious war games prior to World War II. The setting was the newly named Ford Ord, near Monterey, California. Many of the soldiers involved in these war games used wooden rifles. There was little ammunition for the First World War cannons. Trucks were used as mock tanks. This exercise was to be the U.S. Army's first attempt at amphibious landing. As the troops came ashore from rowboats in Monterey Bay, trucks zoomed back and forth with soldiers shouting boom boom, pretending they were tank guns firing away! Above the beach line, crowds of local citizens yelled and applauded while the 32nd Infantry regimental Band played. That band was conducted by Staff Sergeant Leo Bradford Leonard.

The Army maneuvers were partially planned by Mark W. Clark, a brilliant officer from the office of the Chiefs of Staff in Washington D.C. With Col. Clark was his friend and classmate from the West Point Class of 1915, Lt. Col. Dwight David Eisenhower. Ike (as he was called) was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, and wondered if he would ever get a regimental command. With nothing official to do but watch, Ike wandered over to the band and chatted with Staff Sergeant Leo B. Leonard. He asked Leo if he could play a song called "Abdul a bul bul a mir", Ike's favorite song. Staff Sergeant Leonard said that most of the boys knew that song from their many visits to the local bars, but they did not have the music with them since it was not scheduled for the program that day.

Remembering Max Leonard by Dr. Leo D. Leonard

                One of my earliest memories is of my Uncle Max. We were living at 1773 Michigan Avenue in Salt Lake City. I remember my father, Leo Bradford Leonard, throwing me up in the air and then catching me.  I remember this was not the first time my father had played that game of throwing me above his head then catching me on the way down.  Each time he threw me, I was terrified and filled with rage.  Oh, how I hated that game!

                This particular day, Grandmother and Grandfather Leonard were visiting from Price, Utah.  They came into the front room, followed by Uncle Max.  Zoe Ellen told my father to stop throwing me.  Max walked over and caught me on the way down from one of my father’s tosses, held me in his arms and settled me down.  I think that must have been the time when Max became my favorite Uncle.

                Max’s big hug and soft words were most comforting.  During my visit with Max in December of 2002 in Palm Desert, he confirmed that the event had indeed happened, so it wasn’t my imagination.  We left our home in Michigan Avenue in 1940 to move to Fort Ord, CA; so it was either in 1940 or late 1939 that this event had taken place.

Recollections of Max Leonard Traveling in Europe in 1950

Finally it dawned on me what Lee had said about returning the same way from Vienna to Salzburg. However, by that time I was deep into the Russian Sector. As I traveled through the countryside I saw Russian air field and tanks on maneuvers with my new Leica camera and telephoto lenses. I couldn't resist taking pictures. (Max had acquired a Leica with a telephoto lens during the trip) About the time I was just putting my camera back in the car a carload of Russian soldiers came along and waved me to stop. I knew what they wanted so I got in my car and sped down the road. They turned around and took after me. They had a Volkswagen Beetle that couldn't go more than 60 MPH without passengers and with four of them in the car about 50 MPH. My car (a 1949 Ford Anglia) was much faster so eventually I left them, especially when I started climbing the Simmering Pass.

Blocked at the Russian Check Point
I got to the top of the pass an there were the Russian guards checking cars going into the British Sector. The bar across the road was up to let the car in front of me go on. I followed close behind this car hoping to accelerate past the gate before it dropped and get over the hill and down the other side before the Russian guard could get off a shot with his machine gun. Unfortunately he quickly dropped the bar before I could get to it. I stopped and he asked me for my papers in German. After looking at them he asked me where I was going. I told him to Italy because it was the tourist route. He told me I was to go back to Vienna and proceed west to Salzburg in the American zone. I argued with him and he pointed his machine gun at my head and he told me to go back to Vienna. With the threat of being shot, I did what he said. It was getting dark and I was worried about running into the Russian soldiers in the Volkswagen or maybe having a flat tire. Nevertheless, I headed for Vienna as fast as I could go.

Recollections of Max Leonard From His First Job to Going to Europe in 1950

After finishing my two years at Carbon Jr. College I moved to Salt Lake City and attended the University of Utah. My brother Stanley gave me a place to live in his home even thought it meant that his two girls would have to sleep in one bed. He helped me obtain employment at a gas station on weekends and after school so I could have enough money to eventually get a room near the university. Stanley was a very kind hearted person who helped his parents before getting married by allowing them to buy groceries at his expense in the grocery store where he worked. I'll never forget how he and Beth helped me. The years I attended the University of Utah will always be etched in my memory. It was years of hard work to finish my degrees and years of memorable experiences outside the classroom.

Getting the First Job as a Teacher
After completing my years of education at the University of Utah I got a job teaching at the Helper Jr. High School. I enjoyed my years at this school. It was a good teaching experience. It provided me with the opportunity to get to know my older sister Birdie who often invited me to lunch at her home in Helper. Birdie got married when I was about four years old and moved from Peerless where we lived, to Helper so I never got to know her as well as my brothers and sister who were younger. Gerry, one of Birdie's daughters was one of my students at the Helper Jr. High School. She was a straight A student who was a great asset to my classroom.