Last living WWII veteran from G Company, others honored Saturday in Cabot
Robert “Bob” Leslie’s children remember seeing shrapnel emerge from the skin on their WWII-veteran father’s face multiple times during their childhood.
“Every now and then, even when we were kids, a piece of shrapnel would make its way out,” said Karen Baughman, Leslie’s daughter.
“Then he would go to the doctor, and they would pull it out, and maybe he’d have a stitch or two,” said Jim Leslie, his youngest son.
Friends and family of Leslie and other soldiers in the 103rd Infantry Division of the United States Army in WWII gathered Saturday, June 21, at The Field House Restaurant in Cabot to honor Leslie and the sacrifice his friends made.
Leslie was deployed for about six months, from November 1944 to April 1945. His division reported almost 900 casualties in that time fighting through Austria, Germany, France and Italy.
“WWII was his defining time of life,” said Dave Leslie, Robert Leslie’s oldest son.
Leslie, 101 and a half, was hit by shrapnel from a German mortar that landed on the man next to him, instantly killing him, while on the front lines during the Battle of the Bulge — Dec. 20, 1944. Leslie served in G Company of the 409th Infantry Regiment, 103rd Infantry Division.
“It was tough in the winter time,” he said.
Leslie’s children said he saw a medic for the shrapnel to his face, but the injury report was never recovered after the medic was killed in action the next day.
Because the report was never found, Leslie stayed on the front lines and was eventually discharged as a sergeant — without any record of being wounded. His friends reportedly teased him about it when the discharge came, Baughman added.
He eventually was awarded a Purple Heart when mention of his injury was discovered in a report that was supposed to be sent to headquarters each morning.
“Nine times out of 10, they were way late,” Dave Leslie said about the morning reports.
The Department of Veterans Affairs and American Red Cross fought for him to receive a Purple Heart when the injury documentation was discovered, Dave Leslie said.
Leslie was also awarded the Bronze Star, French Legion of Honor and Combat Infantryman Badge.
Leslie is the last known man alive from his company, which suffered a 100% casualty rate during the war. The casualty rate includes both killed and wounded soldiers.
According to Dave Leslie, eight members of Leslie’s 190-man company made it home.
He said about 80 replacements were also assigned to the company, of which about four escaped without casualties. Leslie’s kids described their father as a history buff himself after he researched and annotated some accounts from his fellow infantrymen.
Leslie was wounded a second time in December 1944 around the Battle of the Bulge when his division was camped south of the main bulge. Dave Leslie said his father was sleeping in a foxhole and awoke to pain in his hand. Robert Leslie first thought a fellow soldier had kicked him before he saw a piece of shrapnel had grazed his hand, Dave Leslie said.
“Back then, there were so many casualties,” Dave Leslie said. “For something like that, you used to stay up on the line.”
Jim Leslie added that soldiers were lucky to get injuries like that wrapped up on the front line and rarely warranted a medic.
Leslie was born Jan. 6, 1924. He graduated from New Castle High School in Lawrence County and was deployed about six months later, he said.
The 103rd Infantry Division held reunions each year from 1962 until 2018, by which time most of the veterans had died. The group that met Saturday were friends and family members of soldiers in the company.
