Joseph Edward Leising
Major Joseph E. Leising was a Marine fighter pilot assigned to VMF-321.
He was killed in a mid-air collision near Morehead City, North Carolina, on 26 July 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-6881
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
CONUS Loss
Because this individual died within the limits of the continental United States, they are not tracked by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
May 5, 1918
at Buffalo, NY
Parents
Joseph Edwin Leising (d. 1925)
Matilda (Freuhauf) Leising (d. 1931)
Education
St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute
University of Notre Dame (1939)
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
July 22, 1940 (Enlisted)
June 7, 1941 (Commission)
Home Of Record
365 Leroy Avenue
Buffalo, NY
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Patricia A. Leising
Military Specialty
Pilot
Flight Officer
Primary Unit
VMF-321
Campaigns Served
None
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
Leising previously served as a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Major Joseph Leising, an experienced Marine aviator and former flight instructor, served as a pilot flight officer for VMF-321, a fighter squadron training at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in the summer of 1943.
On 26 July 1943, a group of Marine pilots took off from Cherry Point for a scheduled gunnery flight. The routine practice turned tragic shortly after 0700 when two of the fighters collided in a horrific head-on collision. Wreckage fell into Onslow Bay, with no sign of survivors. The two pilots – Major Leising and Captain John P. Sanders – were reported killed in the accident.
Burial Information or Disposition
Crashed at sea; remains not recovered.
Next Of Kin Address
Permanent address of wife, Mrs. Patricia Anne (Gustaferro) Leising.
At the time of the crash, Patricia was living in Miami.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, “15 miles south of Morehead City, NC.”
