Biographical Note
Leonard John Kovar was born in 1922, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1940, and was attending Macalester College at the outset of World War II. With what he describes as "mediocre grades," Kovar decided to leave school and enlist in the Army Air Forces in 1943. Kovar was selected for pilot training at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (SAACC), Texas. He successfully completed pre-flight training in San Antonio and was then sent to the Stamford Flying School, Texas, to continue his training. Kovar “washed out” of pilot training in May 1943, and was reclassified as a bombardier. He was reassigned to SAACC before moving on to bombardier training at San Angelo Army Air Field, Texas. Kovar completed additional training with his crew at Davis-Monthan Field in Tucson, Arizona, before being sent overseas in the summer of 1944.
Kovar and his crew were assigned to the 727th Squadron, 451st Bomb Group, stationed in Italy. On August 22, 1944, while flying their eleventh mission, Kovar and his crew were shot down by enemy fire, prior to reaching their target in Vienna, Austria. Kovar successfully ejected from the plane, but was later picked up by Hungarian civilians who turned him over to German soldiers. Kovar was held as a prisoner of war (POW) at Stalag Luft III, and later Stalag VII-A, until April 1945, when his camp was liberated by General Patton’s forces. During his time as a POW, Kovar was able to correspond with his family at home. He returned to the United States in the summer of 1945, and after taking leave at home in Minnesota, he returned to active duty to await orders for the Pacific Theater. These orders never materialized and when the war ended, Kovar was honorably discharged with the rank of Second Lieutenant.
During his time in the service, Kovar resolved to go back to school and upon his return to civilian life he accomplished this goal, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and psychology from Macalester College. He then attended Andover Newton Theological School, and was ordained as a minister in 1952. He and his wife, Lorraine, lived in Hardin, Montana, where he presided over the First Congregational Church.