LeoFrankellTBMPilot
St. Paul native Leon Frankel, a Navy pilot who fought in both World War II and Israelâs War of Independence, died Wednesday at the age of 92.
Frankel flew a torpedo bomber during World War II and was awarded the Navy Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross for the 1945 sinking of a Japanese cruiser and for protecting his squadron commander flying a plane damaged by enemy combatants.
Afterward, he joined a group of other World War II pilots to form Israelâs first air squadron during its War of Independence in 1948.