Leopold S. Poduszczak

SECOND LIEUTENANT LEOPOLD S. PODUSZCZAK, son of Boleslaw "Barney" and Julia Poduszczak, served in the Army Air Force for a period of two years. Born in Camden NJ on December 21st, 1916, he attended the Bonsall School on Mount Ephraim Avenue. He  lived with his grandparents in Sandonierz, Poland from 1932 through 1936, completing most of his high school education there, before returning to the USA to attain a high school diploma from Camden High school in 1937. At that time the family was living at 1634 Kolo Street in Camden, by June of 1939 they had moved to a nearby home at 1105 Lowell Street in Camden. Younger brother Richard Poduszcak also had gone back to live in Poland, from 1934 until January of 1939.

Leopold Poduszczak enlisted in the Army Air Force with his brother Richard in August of 1941, and after basic training was trained as a bombardier in Texas, California, and Washington, He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on November 21, 1942. He was home in Camden to visit for two days in May of 1943 before flying to England, where his unit was stationed.

Leopold Poduszczak was killed when the B-17 he was in was shot down over he North Frisian Islands in the North Sea during a raid on Hanover, Germany on July 26th, 1943. Besides his parents, he was survived by two brothers, Corporal Richard and Thaddeus Poduszczak, who worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. His death was reported in the August 2, 1943 edition of the Canden-Courier-Post.