Leon Salvador Inge – Colonel, United States Air Force

Submitted By His Wife, Barbara Inge, and his Friend Steven R. Polk, Lieutenant General, United States Air Force
December 2005

Colonel Leon (Lee) S. Inge was born 9 July 1928 in New York City, the son  of Leon G. and Elena Morales Inge.  He was an ROTC graduate from Fordham University in New York in 1950 and, upon graduation, was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

While at Fordham he was a founder and charter member of the Pershing Rifles.

Colonel Inge attended flight training at James Connelly Air Force Base and Ellington Air Force Base, Texas, and received his navigator wings on 9 October 1951.

During an Air Force career that spanned thirty years, Colonel Inge served in a myriad of assignments in Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Idaho, Ohio, the Pentagon and in Germany and Pakistan.  He served combat tours in Korea and in Vietnam.

He was a Master Navigator with 4200 flying hours.

Colonel Inge received numerous awards and decorations for distinguished service.  Among them are three awards of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, three awards of the Air Medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm.

Colonel Inge’s last active duty assignment was with the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Collection Management.  He retired on 31 August 1980.

Following retirement, Colonel Inge worked as a research analyst and consultant on intelligent matters in the Washington, D.C. area.

Retirement also permitted Colonel Inge to focus on his lifelong interest in education.  He attended the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., from where he received a Master’s Degree and Doctor of Education.

Colonel Inge died on 6 June 2003 and was laid to rest with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.


INGE, LEON SALVADOR

  • COL   US AIR FORCE
  • KOREA, VIETNAM
  • DATE OF BIRTH:  07/09/1928
  • DATE OF DEATH: 06/06/2003
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 4398
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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