From March 11, 2022 post.
Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) issued the following statement after the President of the United States signed into law a bill to rename the North Avondale Post Office at 3493 Burnet Avenue in Cincinnati the "John H. Leahr and Herbert M. Heilbrun Post Office." The Post Office is located in the neighborhood in which the two men went to school together.
The bill passed had the bipartisan support of Ohio’s Congressional delegation and passed both the House and Senate with unanimous support.
“We owe John and Herb a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. This law is just a piece of a fitting tribute to two men whose enormous impact on this world will outlive us all. John and Herb taught us what it meant to be kind, tolerant, and respectful, but most importantly, friends," said Congressman Wenstrup. "I know John’s son and Herb’s wife, as well as their families and friends, are proud to see their fathers’ legacy recognized. I was honored to be friends with Johnny and Herb and proud to see this bill signed into law.”
Background:
John Leahr and Herbert “Herb” Heilbrun served as pilots in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where Mr. Leahr served as a Fighter Squadron P-51 Mustang pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen, and Mr. Heilbrun served as a B-17 bomber pilot.
Many decades after the war, Herb Heilbrun visited a Cincinnati meeting of the Tuskegee Airmen in 1997 where he met John Leahr. Mr. Heilbrun and Mr. Leahr learned that they unknowingly flew on some of the same missions in the War, were both from Cincinnati, and even attended the same elementary school in North Avondale, Ohio.
The pair became true best friends and dedicated their later years to promoting interracial understanding and unity, and they were subsequently honored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations for their work. Their work led to the book Black and White Airmen: Their True History about them, which chronicles their history, friendship, and efforts to bring others together to overcome racial divides. Mr. Leahr passed away in 2015 and Mr. Heilbrun passed away at the age of 100 in December of 2020.
Original source can be found here.
