Leo J. Meyer

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Leo John Meyer
University of Maryland
BS Mil Sci 1967

Leo J. Meyer

Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 2009.[4]

Military service

Combat Infantryman Badge, 3rd Award.

In 1936 Leo Meyer joined the New York

Southern Philippines Campaign
.

After serving in occupied Japan as a captain, he mustered out of the Army of the United States and reenlisted in the Army Organized Reserve Corps; by June 1947 he was back on active duty as a Regular Army master sergeant instructing reservists. He re-entered active commissioned service as a 1st lieutenant and served in the 7th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Devens. By November 1950 he was in Korea north of the 38th parallel serving under LTC Thomas O'Neill in 3rd Battalion, which served as the nucleus of "Task Force Dog", the forward element of the covering force for the X Corps’ withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir. He earned his second Combat Infantryman Badge during the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) Intervention Campaign (November 1950 to January 1951).

Meyer later served in the

Special Forces, in Nha Trang, Vietnam, where he earned his Jump Wings.[5][6][7][8][9]
Meyer earned his 3rd Combat Infantryman Badge while serving in the Rung Sat Special Zone with the 5th Mobile Strike Force, B55 (December 68 to February 69). In March 1969 he was promoted to colonel in the Army Reserve but continued serving as a military intelligence Regular Army CWO4 on active duty.

From 1969 to 1971 Meyer was again assigned in the Washington, D.C. area as an intelligence technician with the 116th Military Intelligence Group. He retired as a colonel in 1971. Meyer was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 18 May 2006.[10]

Honors and awards

Colonel Meyer was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame on March 27, 2009. He is the 2,480th officer so honored. Colonel Meyer's awards include the following:[11][12]

Contributions to the arts

One of several whale teeth scrimshawed by Meyer between 1964 and 1971

In 1953 while assigned in Massachusetts, Meyer met Dr. Ralph Bussler, an osteopathic doctor who had established a business making 54mm lead figures, "Tin soldiers" (soldiers, horses, and weapons) for collectors and war game enthusiasts. He learned how to create and cast the figures and contributed to the Bussler line of civil war sets. Bussler and Meyer figures are featured in the book Making And Collecting Military Miniatures by Bob Bard.[13]

In 1964 while assigned in Honolulu, Meyer learned the art of the American whaler, Scrimshaw (carving on whale ivory) from Richard (Dick) Hull. He carved larger sperm whale teeth with eagles' heads or traditional scenes of ships and whales and smaller pieces for jewelry. During his first assignment in Washington, DC, his art was on exhibit in the Fort Lesley J. McNair Post Library and he participated in the first Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, July 1967 as a scrimshaw artist.[14] Some of his scrimshaw art is exhibited in the book Scrimshaw: Variations on a Theme by Martha Bowen[15]

External links

References

  1. ^ United States Army Personnel buried in Arlington national Cemetery
  2. ^ figures represent the total number of men serving in the US Army during World War II, Korean War and the Vietnam War and not the periods between or since the last listed conflict
  3. ^ *National Infantry Museum Three-Time Recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge (U.S. Army) Archived 2007-06-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Bayonet, VOL. 67 • NO. 12 A7, 2009-03-27[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Army Times Newspaper, published by the Army Times Publishing Company, 4 June 1969
  6. ^ Stars and Stripes Newspaper, Far East Edition published under the Department of Defense in accordance with DoD Directive 5122.11, 4 June 1969
  7. ^ Veritas Vol VIII No 9, published by the Office of the Historian, John F. Kennedy Center for Military Assistance, Jun 13 1969
  8. ^ Army Digest, published by the Public Affairs Office, HQ Department of the Army, August 1969
  9. ISBN 0-9624009-4-7
  10. ^ United States Army Personnel Buried In Arlington National Cemetery (M-Z)
  11. ^ "National Museum of the United States Army Registry of the American Soldier". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  12. ^ "Leo John Meyer". veterantributes.org. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  13. ^ Bard, Bob. 1957. Making and Collecting Military Miniatures. New York: Robert M. McBrideCo. 1957. LC Control No. 57010757, ISBN B0007DOFLK[clarification needed]
  14. ^ Smithsonian Folklife Festival Documentation Collection. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. 1967
  15. ^ Bowen, Martha. 1988. Scrimshaw: Variations on a Theme. San Francisco, CA: self-published. LC Control No. 88070736. According to The Digital Reference Section, Library of Congress, not every book published has an ISBN. When available, ISBNs are generally included in Library of Congress catalog records. The description of the book as a "limited edition" and the fact that the book appears to have been published by the author suggest that this book likely does not have an ISBN.
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