No one really knew Leroy better than me, I state that because, I beleive that the true self of an individual shows completely when one is exposed, on a day to day basis, face to face with death and we joined the Army together, (He's serial number was 10104661 and mine was 10104686) we trained for Combat together, went on pass together, got assigned to the same Combat Battalion together and fought side by side in Combat together and I saw him go down on that early morning lighted sky (The enemy flew flares that lighted up our positions) on June 24, 1951. He was the bravest and toughest  man I ever knew, He was 18 and I, 19. He was assigned as a B.A.R. man (the heaviest Automatic Rifle that serves each Infantry Squad) He was around 5 feet 5 or 6 inches tall and always was at his best; dressed and armed, always with a smile and always willing to help a fellow soldier out of any situation, no matter how difficult, dangerous or dirty. He shared everything with us, money, mail and/or food packages from home.
This man, at 18 years of age, Left his heavy Gun so he could ran fast in the open, firing his pistol through a hail of bullets to a fellow soldier who was a machine gunner and had just been hit down and was bleeding, turned the machine gun at the enemy firing with such accuracy that they stopped and ducked for cover, then He picked up the wounded gunner carrying him back to the main body of troops to a medic, turned around he himself bleeding as well and ran back to the exposed Machine gun immediately manning it and firing again with such accuracy that the enemy who had resumed their attack, stopped again and withdrew. They must have been awed at this guys tenacity and accuracy that they decided to halt their attack. He's Platoon Leader noticed his  wounded arm and sent him to the Rear for medical treatment and He refused telling the Lt. that it was just a scratch and he'll have someone in the squad clean and wrap it up. I never knew how bad it was and later that evening I saw him and he was favoring a left wrapped arm.
The next morning around 2AM, we were attacked by an estimated 2000 enemy, (later determined by our Intelligence) He again stood up firing his Bar from his position that was right on the trail facing the ridgeline where the bulk of the enemy was coming from on a "Banzai Attack" (full force suicide charge) He was doing this because He wanted to slow them down so that we could withdraw back to a better position, The enemy force was so great that He knew that He would not make it but wanted the rest of us to do so. I know that because I knew him, that's the way he was, going back on this story you too should see this. I don't know how many of us are still alive but we all do so because of him. I have talked to many selfish politicians who professed to be Veterans Groups advocates and who agreed with me on the merits of Leroy's  heroic actions and promised action but turned up zero, I, never hearing from them again.
My hope is that, some one with authority will read this story and follow-up to eventually get Leroy the recognition that He really deserves, "The Congressional Medal of Honor"-no less.