Gene Norman Leeper, Korean War CasualtyPorter County Data on Korean War Casualties . . . .
Gene Norman Leeper
Private First Class, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
Date of Birth: 1930
Date of Death: March 24, 1953
Cause of Death: Killed in Action (Old Baldy/Pork Chop Hill area)
Date of Enlistment: July 1952
Hometown: Portage Township
Newspaper Notices:
Area GI Dies On Old Baldy
GARYTON, March 31 -- A 22-year-old former Portage Township High school student
was killed in action in Korea, his parents were notified Monday by the
Department of Defense.
Victim was Pvt. Gene Leeper, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leeper, 2770
Monnier road, Garyton.
Pvt. Leeper was a member of an infantry platoon and had been serving in Korea
since last December. He entered the army in July, 1952.
He attended Portage High school and was employed as a block layer in a Gary mill
prior to entering military service.
Pvt. Leeper is survived by his parents; a sister, Mrs. Delores Rich, of Crisman,
and six brothers, Charles and Glenn of Hobart, Bobby, Leroy and Larry of
Garyton, and Raymond, who is stationed at Camp Gordon, Ga.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; March
31, 1953; Volume 26, Number 227, Page 1, Column 3
2 Area GI's Bodies In US
Bodies of two 22-year-old Porter county servicemen, killed within 48 hours in
action on Old Baldy mountain in Korea, have been returned to the United States.
They are Cpl. William E. Harrigan, 22, husband of Mrs. Audrey Harrigan and son
of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Harrigan, Chesterton, and Pfc. Gene Leeper, 22, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Leeper, Garyton.
Harrigan was killed March 23, and Leeper on March 24. Bodies of the victims are
being sent to the Brooklyn Army base and later will be brought her for burial.
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Source: The Vidette-Messenger, Valparaiso, Porter County, Indiana; May
12, 1953; Volume 26, Number 263, Page 6, Column 3
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List of
Porter County Korean War Casualties
Information abstracted and transcribed by Steven R. Shook