Robert N. Leavell

Robert N. Leavell was born on July 16, 1924 in Mississippi and grew up in Oxford, MS. He received his wings at Marianna Air Base. Leavell broke his hand in a fight and as a consequence he did not go to the European Theater with his original group. He was sent to fighter tactical training at Pinellas AB at St. Petersburg, FL and Lhandi Air Field at Karachi, India.

He ferried his fighter to China (with a wing tank of gin) to join the 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 23^rd Fighter Group at Lao Wang Ping in the summer of 1944. Leavell flew missions when gasoline was available, mostly communications, railroads, and water traffic. He left China after a year, with the 118th, when the squadron returned to the States by boat in the summer of 1945. Leavell stayed in the Air Force Reserves for several years and was discharged as captain in 1956.

He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1948 and Yale Law School in 1951. During this period he spent five summers working on a banana boat in the Caribbean for Standard Fruit and S.S. Company. Following graduation, he had five years practice in New York City with a large downtown law firm. With the exception of working one year as a consultant to the Securities Exchange Commission in Washington, DC, Bob spent his career as a law professor teaching at Tulane University Law School, Michigan Law school, and at the University of Georgia Law School.