ROYCE L. McCLESKEY, 21, was the son of Roy McCleskey
and Josephine Bishop McCleskey Strong. He was born in
Ranger, TX, on Nov. 5, 1923. He had two sisters,
Margaret Jo McCleskey (RHS-1939) who married James H.
Berry and Doris Jean McCleskey (RHS-1941) who married
Millard W. Herweck (RHS-1938).
He married Merline Miller (RHS-1943) and they had a
son. Royce entered the service in January of 1943,
and underwent training in Kansas and at Sheppard
Field, Wichita Falls, A&M College at College Station,
the Aviation Cadet Center at San Antonio, the Stamford
Flying School and Perrin Field at Sherman. Prior to
entering the Army Air Corps he was employed by the
Gulf Oil Company. Upon completion of his training
as a pilot he was sent overseas where he served in
the 12th Air Force in Italy, and was awarded the Air
Medal and Purple Heart. He was killed in action in
San Benditto, Italy, on April 22, 1945.
His father, Roy Louis McCleskey, died in 1964 and
his mother in 1973.