Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

John Leaf and Lud Beeson have the right to sit and relax. After serving in the United States Army immediately after World War II, they have earned this and more. For all of the horror, trauma, and shock of World War II, imagine what life was like right after the war. John Leaf served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946 in France and Germany and Italy. Leaf arrived in Europe on D-Day. His duty and that of his platoon was to find where battles had taken place and to find where United States armed forces members had been buried. Once they arrived at a former battle site, they would approach town officials and inquire as to where soldiers were buried. Once a site was identified, their job was to exhume the soldiers bodies, process the bodies for shipment back to a base in the United States and from there, make their final journey home. Leaf remembers all of this vividly. Lud Beeson also served immediately after World War II, serving for 30 years in the United States Air Force. He also assisted in the recovery after WWII, serving in Okinawa, the Aleutian Islands and throughout the Pacific. Beeson served long enough to find himself in Viet Nam. Leaf and Beeson are two of the most revered and honored living members of the American Legion Post 1479.