In honor of Leo Leonard

I never thought I’d have to ask for outright charity this way, but we all know, life has a way of proving you wrong. This is tough for me to do.

My father passed away 4 days ago at the ripe age of 85. He was living a quality life in the Philippines for quite some time. Although he was well taken care of into his later years, I quickly discovered his exit strategy was poorly planned.

As a U.S. citizen and a veteran, his death should have been reported immediately to the U.S. Embassy as well as local military outlets, including the VFW, which he was a member of. This did not happen. Minutes after his final breath, an opportunist redirected him to an outside funeral home. Days later, I was informed by the V.A. in Manila that they have basically blacklisted this funeral home due to their reputation for less than honorable treatment of foreigners and shady billing practices. They have nearly drained the small amount of money set aside for the whole process (cremation,urn, shipment, etc) by staying elusive and unreachable while charging excessive by-the-day fees just for “storage”. At this point, we are in the process of transferring his body into the good hands of a U.S. Veteran organization. They are doing what they can to assist with expenses, but it isn’t much. I am overwhelmed, friends. This has been one of the most challenging obstacles in my years.

If you knew Leo personally, or know me, or my sisters, or are a veteran yourself, or have a veteran living overseas, or just want to help because it’s the thing to do, please consider donating.

As Leo used to say-

FAIRE ATTENTION!

-J.L.