Please Join the Town to Welcome WWII POW Survivors from their hotel to CB Hannegan’s in Los Gatos
I went to CB Hannegan’s and met a few of these gentlemen when they arrived at CB Hannegan’s in Los Gatos after their well publicized ride down Hiway 17. All of the overpasses were full of flag waving supporters including the respective fire and police departments along the way.
I spoke at some length with one Oscar L. Leonard, currently 95 years old and living in Paradise, Ca. He was a POW in Japan for 1,200 (+) days as a slave laborer, and weighed 60 lbs. when he was released from captivity. Upon his release, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Missouri just before the signing of the Surrender Ceremony on September 2, 1945 and was witness to the signing ceremony by General Douglas MacArthur on that day. He mentioned that it was quite a pleasure to witness that event, after all that he and his comrades had been through.
After discharge, he went back to college on the G.I. Bill and became a Pharmacist in the Paradise, CA. area where he still lives and worked as a Pharmacist until just a few years ago. He was one of several of these Gentlemen that were at the lunch. This was on the local NBC News channel this last evening.
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