Leon David Landsman
SGT in 3132nd Signal Service Co
ASN#32921469
Born 1922 in NJ, Died 2005
County of residence at enlistment: Essex County, NJ
Other residence(s): Newark, NJ; New York, NY
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: clerks, general office
College education before the war: Univ. of Chicago
College education after the war: Columbia (BA and MA)
Leon Landsman was born on July 23, 1922 in Newark, NJ, the second of five children. His father, a carpenter, had been born in Russia and his mother in Austria.
Leon graduated from high school in 1940 and was working for Walter Kidde & Co. in Belleville, NJ, a pioneering company in fire suppression systems, when he registered for the draft on June 30, 1942. This was likely a summer job, since a 1943 newspaper article reported that he was studying engineering at the University of Chicago. He enlisted on May 12, 1943, giving his occupation as a general office clerk.
He found his way into the 3132 Signal Service Company, and served in Europe during the war. He was discharged on November 1, 1945 with the rank of SGT. Fellow soldiers characterized him as a "good guy" "with a phenomenal memory."
Two of his siblings also served in the military during the war—his older sister Sally was in the WACS, working her way up to the rank of SGT, and his younger brother Daniel was also in the Army.
After the war, he used his GI Bill benefits to attend Columbia University in New York, earning degrees in physics—a BA in 1951 and an MA in 1956. He joined the physics faculty at the Newark College of Engineering in 1958; that school eventually changed its name to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Leon remained on the faculty through at least the year 2000.
Little else is known about his career other than that he managed a summer institute for high school physics teachers in the 1970s.
He died on July 23, 2005 and is buried at Beth-David Cemetery in Kenilworth, NJ.
Sources:
1930 census
1940 census
1942 draft card
1943 article in the Evening News (Harrisburg, PA) about his sister (mentioning him)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/63312461/?terms=leon%20landsman&match=1
1943 enlistment record
1950 census
1972 article in The Record (Bergen County, NJ) about his physics work
https://www.newspapers.com/image/492101548/?terms=%22leon%20landsman%22&match=1
1980 NJ Institute of Technology catalog, p. 138; shows his degrees
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/coursecatalogs/12/
1981 article in The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ) about his physics work
2005 Social Security death record
2005 Find a Grave record
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223563081/leon-landsman
2005 VA death record