Sailor Boy

Leo Yungfleisch (2nd row from the bottom, 3rd from the left)

"Grandpa? Why did you join the Navy?"

This is a question that I wish that I had asked my Grandpa Leo before he passed away. Looking back, I missed out on asking him so many questions. Don't we all have regrets like that? Next week I will post a page of questions that I wish that I had asked my Grandpa. Thankfully I have family photos that help to fill in some gaps.

After browsing through old family photos I found some fun treasures from his youth that I believe answer that question.

Leo Yungfleisch

This darling picture is of my Grandpa at a very young age, maybe 8 or 9 years old, and as you can see, even at this young age, he dreamt of being a sailor. Years later, that dream came true.

Leo, age 21, in his U.S. Navy uniform, 1957

Leo devoted most of his life and carreer to serving in the U.S. Navy. He, his wife, Shirley, and their five children moved several times around the United States during his career in the Navy, living in Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, and eventually, Mesa, Arizona, where they made their permanent home. I recently found on Ancestry.com, in the U.S. Select Military Registers of Navy and Reserve Officers, that Leo Yungfleisch became a Lieutenant, junior grade, on 1 June 1984 and two years later, a Lieutenant, on 1 June 1986.

U.S., Navy and Marine Corps Registries, 1814-1992, p.293;
digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com: accessed 27 September 2018).

I fondly remember going into his study in their home in Mesa, Arizona and seeing his model airplanes and aircraft carriers.  He was a man committed to serving his country.