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Sgt Leonard A. Mihalich graduated from Duquesne University.

He enlisted in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, on 4 March 1943.

Flak was encountered near the I.P., at which time a burst outside the plane knocked out the number 3 engine and killed 2nd Lt Ferguson instantly. The ship was subsequently hit by ME-109s and other German fighters. Part of the oxygen system had been knocked out by the flak burst, and 2nd Lt Floto was talking with the tail gunner and a waist gunner about the auxiliary supply.

When the ship was hit by fighter fire, the tail gunner, S/Sgt Miller, ceased talking, and efforts to contact him over the interphone were fruitless. 2nd Lt Floto asked one of the enlisted men to see about him, but in the confusion and excitement, he received no definite reports regarding Miller. Immediately, it became necessary to bail out. They bailed out a little northeast of the target area. Five crew members were taken Prisoner of War, and the other five men were killed in action.