Purple Heart ceremony for former POW to be held at Travis

Published April 4, 2006
By 060302

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A ceremony is scheduled for March 21 at 2:30 p.m., here, to present the Purple Heart medal to a local WWII former Prisoner of War. First Lt. Leo S. Bach, of Walnut Creek, Calif., will receive the medal for injuries sustained from his parachute landing after the B-17 he was flying on crashed 50 miles southeast of Berlin, Germany April 11, 1944.

After evading the enemy for three days, Lieutenant Bach was captured and held as a German POW for one year, one month and one day at Stalag Luft One, Barth, Germany. Lieutenant Bach was released May 1, 1945 and was honorably discharged December 23, 1945. He is married to the former Sylvia DuBro and has two children, two grandsons and one great grandson.

Media interested in attending this ceremony should call 2nd Lt. Lindsey Hahn at 707-424-0134 or email her at Lindsey.hahn@travis.af.mil by 10 a.m. March 21.