Leonard C Brostrom
Leonard was born in Preston, Idaho, on the 23rd of November, 1919, where he grew up in a farming community. He went to primary and secondary school at the Oneida Stake Academy, which was built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and later renamed Preston High School. Leonard did odd jobs during the depression years, as well as hunted, fished, and farmed for money and Church service. He took up a calling to do missionary work for the Church to California, which is where he was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Once his mission was complete, he returned home and enlisted in the US Army in March of 1942.
Leonard went to Ford Ord in California for Basic Training and once completed, he was assigned to the 7th Motorized Division at Camp San Luis Obispo. They trained for their deployment to the African Theater in the nearby Mojave Desert until the division was renamed the 7th Infantry Division and their training changed to amphibious assault training with the US Marines for the Pacific Theater. Leonard, along with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, served during the retaking of the Aleutian Islands on the 11th of May, 1943. They were not prepared for the Winter warfare they would endure on Attu but even though ill equipped, they pushed through and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for their actions. Leonard and the 17th Infantry Regiment then trained in Hawaii for four months before deploying to the Marshall Islands, where there were forty-two amphibious assaults and it is said that the assaults were nearly perfect. When Leonard and the rest of the 7thInfantry Division invaded Leyte, the third largest Island of the Philippines, it was the 17thInfantry Regiment's task to attack from the center of the island. It was Leonard's actions during this assault that would earn him the Medal of Honor, making him only one of two members of the 17th Infantry Regiment to do so during World War 2. The citation reads:
He was a rifleman with an assault platoon which ran into powerful resistance near Dagami, Leyte, Philippine Islands, on 28 October 1944. From pillboxes, trenches, and spider holes, so well camouflaged that they could be detected at no more than 20 yards, the enemy poured machinegun and rifle fire, causing severe casualties in the platoon. Realizing that a key pillbox in the center of the strong point would have to be knocked out if the company were to advance, Pfc. Bostrom, without orders and completely ignoring his own safety, ran forward to attack the pillbox with grenades. He immediately became the prime target for all the riflemen in the area, as he rushed to the rear of the pillbox and tossed grenades through the entrance. Six enemy soldiers left a trench in a bayonet charge against the heroic American, but he killed 1 and drove the others off with rifle fire. As he threw more grenades from his completely exposed position he was wounded several times in the abdomen and knocked to the ground. Although suffering intense pain and rapidly weakening from loss of blood, he slowly rose to his feet and once more hurled his deadly missiles at the pillbox. As he collapsed, the enemy began fleeing from the fortification and were killed by riflemen of his platoon. Pfc. Brostrom died while being carried from the battlefield, but his intrepidity and unhesitating willingness to sacrifice himself in a l-man attack against overwhelming odds enabled his company to reorganize against attack, and annihilate the entire enemy position.
Leonard posthumously received the Medal of Honor on the 15th of November, 1945, about one year after his death and about a week before his 26th birthday. His Medal was originally donated to the Franklin County Courthouse in Preston by his family and it stayed there on display with some photos of him and mementos until a new set of county commissioners decided to remove the display cases. The Medal then went to the local American Legion post for display until the local veteran community had diminished. The post was taken over by the county and the last commander of the post took the Medal home with him for safe keeping. All of Leonard's family had died by this time with the exception of a niece that didn't feel she could preserve it properly. The Medal then sat in the office of a local lawyer, Jay MacKenzie, until retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Sherman Fleek had called. He was the command historian for the US Military Academy at West Point and had been doing research on Leonard's life. This discussion led to the Church History Library of the LDS Church being contacted to see if they would preserve and display Leonard's Medal. They agreed since Leonard was a lifetime member and is one of five members to receive the Medal of Honor during World War 2.
Leonard C Brostrom is buried in the Preston Cemetery in Preston, Idaho: Block 1, Lot 18.
