Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX –
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Michael E. Leeper, who served under
Fifth Army in World War II, was laid to rest at Fort Sam Houston National
Cemetery Jan. 19.
Leeper, who retired from the Army in 1971 after 30 years of
service, passed away in December 2015 at the age of 98.
He received full military honors provided by more than 50 Soldiers
from Fort Sam Houston’s Military Funeral Honors unit and the 323rd Army Band.
Brig. Gen. Pete Bosse, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) deputy
commanding general for Reserve Affairs, was the senior officer present and
presented the American flag from the ceremony to Leeper’s family.
Leeper enlisted in the Army shortly in April 1941 and was
commissioned as a quartermaster officer the following summer. In 1944, he
deployed overseas with the 255th Ordnance Battalion, which supported Fifth Army
combat operations in Italy.
After the war, he held numerous logistician and budgetary
positions in the Army, rising through the ranks and ultimately attaining the
rank of brigadier general in 1969.
As a general officer, Leeper served as the director of
procurement and production and director of international logistics for Army
Materiel Command.
His final assignment before retiring was Eighth Army
Assistant chief of staff for logistics (G4) in Korea. Following his Army
service, Leeper held multiple executive positions for corporations in Hawaii.