# Leo J. Meyer

Leo J. Meyer (October 6, 1917 - January 12, 2006) was a soldier in the United States Army, one of only three hundred and twenty-four men who have been awarded three Combat Infantryman Badges out of more than the twenty-three million men who served in the US Army between December 1941 and December 2007. Colonel Meyer was inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 2009.

## Military service

In 1936 Leo Meyer joined the New York National Guard 102nd Engineer Regimental Field Music as a bandsman through the NYNG Cadet Corps. In October 1937 he enlisted into Company ‘B’, 102nd Engineer Regiment and by May 1940 he had been promoted to corporal. In October 1940 he was called, with his unit, the 27th Division, to federal service for 12 months training. From December 1941 to December 1942 Meyer served in the Pacific Theater of Operations as a master sergeant in the positions of regimental and battalion sergeant major. In March 1943 he graduated from the US Army Air Forces Officer Candidate School. In 1944 he volunteered for service in the infantry and in June 1945 was serving as a lieutenant in Company ‘A’, 34th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division in the Philippines. Meyer earned his first Combat Infantryman Badge during Operation VICTOR V in the Southern Philippines Campaign.
After serving in occupied Japan as a captain, he mustered out of the Army of the United States and reenlisted in the Army Organized Reserve Corps; by June 1947 he was back on active duty as a Regular Army master sergeant instructing reservists. He re-entered active commissioned service as a 1st lieutenant and served in the 7th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Devens. By November 1950 he was in Korea north of the 38th parallel serving under LTC Thomas O'Neill in 3rd Battalion, which served as the nucleus of "Task Force Dog", the forward element of the covering force for the X Corps’ withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir. He earned his second Combat Infantryman Badge during the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) Intervention Campaign (November 1950 to January 1951).
Meyer later served in the Cold War Army as an advisor to the Massachusetts National Guard, a staff officer in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, an operations officer at the Army Disciplinary Barracks in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania and as a Post staff officer at Fort Dix, New Jersey. In 1961 Meyer, a reserve infantry major on the active duty list, reverted to Regular Army warrant officer (CWO4) (in lieu of retiring from the Army) and was assigned as an intelligence technician in the Counter Intelligence Corps, serving in New York City, New York, Camden, New Jersey, Honolulu, Hawaii, and Washington, D.C. In 1967 he received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Military Science from the University of Maryland and the following year he volunteered again for service in a combat zone. At age 51 he was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, in Nha Trang, Vietnam, where he earned his Jump Wings. Meyer earned his 3rd Combat Infantryman Badge while serving in the Rung Sat Special Zone with the 5th Mobile Strike Force, B55 (December 68 to February 69). In March 1969 he was promoted to colonel in the Army Reserve but continued serving as a military intelligence Regular Army CWO4 on active duty.
From 1969 to 1971 Meyer was again assigned in the Washington, D.C. area as an intelligence technician with the 116th Military Intelligence Group. He retired as a colonel in 1971. Meyer was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 18 May 2006.

## Honors and awards

Colonel Meyer was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame on March 27, 2009. He is the 2,480th officer so honored. Colonel Meyer's awards include the following:
| Badge | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) | Combat Infantryman Badge with 2 Stars (denoting 3rd award) |
| 1st row | Soldier's Medal | Soldier's Medal | Soldier's Medal | Soldier's Medal | Soldier's Medal | Soldier's Medal | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters | Bronze Star with 2 Oak leaf clusters |
| 2nd row | Purple Heart with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Purple Heart with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Purple Heart with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Purple Heart with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Meritorious Service Medal | Meritorious Service Medal | Meritorious Service Medal | Meritorious Service Medal | Air Medal | Air Medal | Air Medal | Air Medal |
| 3rd row | Joint Service Commendation Medal | Joint Service Commendation Medal | Joint Service Commendation Medal | Joint Service Commendation Medal | Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak leaf cluster | Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V" device | Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V" device | Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V" device | Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with "V" device |
| 4th row | Army Good Conduct Medal | Army Good Conduct Medal | Army Good Conduct Medal | Army Good Conduct Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Campaign Medal | American Campaign Medal | American Campaign Medal | American Campaign Medal |
| 5th row | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 Campaign stars | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal | Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) | Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) | Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) | Army of Occupation Medal (Japan) |
| 6th row | National Defense Service Medal with 1 Service star | National Defense Service Medal with 1 Service star | National Defense Service Medal with 1 Service star | National Defense Service Medal with 1 Service star | Korean Service Medal with 4 Campaign stars | Korean Service Medal with 4 Campaign stars | Korean Service Medal with 4 Campaign stars | Korean Service Medal with 4 Campaign stars | Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Campaign stars | Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Campaign stars |
| 7th row | Armed Forces Reserve Medal with golden Hourglass device | Armed Forces Reserve Medal with golden Hourglass device | Armed Forces Reserve Medal with golden Hourglass device | Armed Forces Reserve Medal with golden Hourglass device | Gallantry Cross Ribbon with Bronze Star | Gallantry Cross Ribbon with Bronze Star | Gallantry Cross Ribbon with Bronze Star | Gallantry Cross Ribbon with Bronze Star | Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 Campaign star | Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 Campaign star | Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 Campaign star | Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 Campaign star |
| 8th row | United Nations Korea Medal | United Nations Korea Medal | United Nations Korea Medal | United Nations Korea Medal | Vietnam Campaign Medal with "60-" clasp | Vietnam Campaign Medal with "60-" clasp | Vietnam Campaign Medal with "60-" clasp | Vietnam Campaign Medal with "60-" clasp | Republic of Korea War Service Medal | Republic of Korea War Service Medal | Republic of Korea War Service Medal | Republic of Korea War Service Medal |
| Badges | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | South Vietnamese Parachutist badge | Basic Parachutist Badge | Basic Parachutist Badge | Basic Parachutist Badge | Basic Parachutist Badge | Basic Parachutist Badge | Basic Parachutist Badge |
| Unit awards | Army Presidential Unit Citation | Army Presidential Unit Citation | Army Presidential Unit Citation | Army Presidential Unit Citation | Army Meritorious Unit Commendation | Army Meritorious Unit Commendation | Army Meritorious Unit Commendation | Army Meritorious Unit Commendation | Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation | Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation | Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation | Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation |
| Unit awards | Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation | Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation | Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation | Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation | Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (U.S. Army version) | Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (U.S. Army version) | Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (U.S. Army version) | Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (U.S. Army version) | Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation Emblem First Class (U.S. Army Version) | Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation Emblem First Class (U.S. Army Version) | Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation Emblem First Class (U.S. Army Version) | Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation Emblem First Class (U.S. Army Version) |

## Contributions to the arts

In 1953 while assigned in Massachusetts, Meyer met Dr. Ralph Bussler, an osteopathic doctor who had established a business making 54mm lead figures, "Tin soldiers" (soldiers, horses, and weapons) for collectors and war game enthusiasts. He learned how to create and cast the figures and contributed to the Bussler line of civil war sets. Bussler and Meyer figures are featured in the book Making And Collecting Military Miniatures by Bob Bard.
In 1964 while assigned in Honolulu, Meyer learned the art of the American whaler, Scrimshaw (carving on whale ivory) from Richard (Dick) Hull. He carved larger sperm whale teeth with eagles' heads or traditional scenes of ships and whales and smaller pieces for jewelry. During his first assignment in Washington, DC, his art was on exhibit in the Fort Lesley J. McNair Post Library and he participated in the first Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, July 1967 as a scrimshaw artist. Some of his scrimshaw art is exhibited in the book Scrimshaw: Variations on a Theme by Martha Bowen