By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A hero to every boy from Winlock, whose longing for Christmas during his years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam prompted the small town to decorate itself as such for his July 1973 homecoming has died.
Edward W. Leonard, a highly decorated veteran who grew up in Winlock, was shot down on Memorial Day and passed away last month on Veterans Day, two of those “boys” related as they recalled a childhood idol.
He became a lawyer and lived in Astoria and then was was mayor of Ilwaco, Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey said.
Another of those who went in the practice of law, Dana Williams, spoke of Leonard being honored with a medal rarely given.
“Eddie was a hero to every kid from Winlock, including me,” Williams said.
The Chinook Observer writes that Leonard spent five years as a POW, three and a half of those years in solitary confinement.
Brosey said Leonard and now Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were in adjacent cells at the so-called Hanoi Hilton.
His obituary says the former Air Force pilot was 76 years old when he died in Portland, Ore. on Nov. 11. Internment and military services will be in the spring at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, according to the obituary published Nov. 25, in the Chinook Observer.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Mr. Leonard will be further honored on this Memorial Day with the dedication of a memorial at Veterans Field in Winlock at the post home of American Legion Post 101, VFW Post 3409, and Boy Scout Troop 324. This is being done as an Eagle Scout project by Aaron Bratina of Toledo High School. Ed Leonard was a lifelong member of American Legion Post 101, always maintaining the connection to his hometown of Winlock. The ceremony will begin at 1230 pm, May 25th and the public is welcome to attend!