Belleville 'Red Tail' pilot lost over Germany

(Jan. 18, 1945) -- Flight Officer Leonard R. Willette, 22, was declared killed in action this week. Willette had been listed as missing in action since Sept. 22. He is the son of Newark Police Lt. and Mrs. Lawrence Willette, of Stephens Street, Belleville.

The young man enlisted in the Army Air Corps while a student at New York University. He entered the service from New Jersey. He refused an appointment by the late Senator Barbour to West Point in order to get into active combat more quickly. Willette received his wings in February 1944, at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Ala.

He was a P-51 Mustang pilot based in Italy with the famed 99th Fighter Squadron, 322nd Fighter Group, under command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis.