Leonard Russo of HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment “Manchu”, 2nd Infantry Division, during the Battle of the Bulge near Bütgenbach Belgium – January 1945

He was 18 years old in this picture…

Leonard Louis Russo Sr. was born on March 3, 1926 in Manhattan NYC, but evidently his parents were from Norwalk, Connecticut.

After WW2 He met his wife Ann Amarylis Neumann from Shiner Texas in Austin and they were married on October 26, 1946 in Norwalk.
After residing in Connecticut for three years they moved to Texas where they raised their two sons.

Leonard passed away at the age of 74 on March 22, 2000 and is buried at the Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery and Mausoleum in Pflugerville, Texas.
Ann passed away at the age of 83 on August 26, 2010 and is buried beside him.

Thanks John Klear for his assistance

LIFE Magazine Archives – George Silk Photographer WWP-PD