Leo Praetorius was born in October 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father worked in a haberdashery. His extended family lived in Mandeville, Louisiana and Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Early in his life, Praetorius lived in New Orleans, and spent summers in Mandeville; but during the Great Depression, the family lived in Bay Saint Louis, and he went back to New Orleans during the summers. A family member was a friend of Andrew Higgins, and arranged for Praetorius to work at the Industrial Canal facility of Higgins Industries doing sheet metal work on landing craft. He remembers showing up on the first day, giving his name and being taken right in, fitted with goggles and shoes, and becoming a burner's helper within an hour's time. Praetorius liked the work. When he was 17 and in his senior year of high school, Praetorius decided to join the Navy because he had lived around water- the Mississippi River, the Pearl River, Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico - all his life. He was underage, and forged his father's signature on the consent line of the application.

After basic training, Leo Praetorius completed a radio course and was slated to become a radio operator on a ship. At the last minute, he said, he volunteered for aviation radio because wanted to fly. He was sent to Memphis, Tennessee for three months further training. Then he went to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for gunnery training and excelled in the use of the .30 caliber machine gun. Next he took a troop train from Hollywood, Florida to Hollywood, California and at North Island in San Diego was attached to squadron VC-19 [Annotator's Note: Composite Squadron 19 (VC-19)]. The night before he was to ship out, he ended up in the brig, and, because his ship was about to leave, got off with a warning. Praetorius sailed on the USS Croatan (CVE-25) through the Panama Canal. He was amazed by the technology of the locks system, and at the sight of mountains, which he had never before seen. When they emerged into the Atlantic Ocean, Praetorius narrowly escaped tragedy on two occasions.

In Norfolk, Virginia, Leo Praetorius was assigned to several different pilots. They were training up and down the east coast [Annotator's Note: Praetorius was a radio operator and gunner on a Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bomber aircraft] out of Quonset, Rhode Island [Annotator's Note: Quonset Point, Rhode Island]. They later flew off the USS Bogue (CVE-9) and were known by the nickname "Airedales". The ship was patrolling for enemy submarines, and Praetorius recalls an occasion when they had made contact with a sub, lost it for a day, then when general quarters was sounded again he twisted his ankle. He was sent to the dispensary, and got taped up. At the time, Praetorius was the only radio operator qualified to prepare and install the sonobouys, a tube fitted with a radio transmitter capable of tracking submarines by the sound of its propeller, and he was put back on duty. Soon the Bogue sank the sub, and picked up the 33 survivors, as well as two injured sailors from a destroyer which the enemy sub had shelled earlier. The Bogue was sent to Casablanca, North Africa where the injured were removed to the hospital, and Praetorius went to have his ankle X-rayed. It was broken. He spent two weeks in the sick bay, and the next time the ship went stateside, Praetorius was transferred to a hospital where he spent six weeks with his leg in a cast. He was eventually fitted with a special shoe and put back on duty. Praetorius' next post was on the USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60), for a couple of cruises after which he went back to Boca Chica, Florida for searchlight training. They arrived just in time for a hurricane, and were locked in a hangar for three days and three nights, with nothing to eat but flight rations from the airplanes. Praetorius said when he emerged he was so hungry he ate almost all of a huge can of Delmonte peaches.

Leo Praetorius recalls that on his next cruise the pilots found landing at night difficult because of a poor lighting system on deck, and many torpedo bombers [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber aircraft] were ruined. If the pilot was unlucky, he would slide over the side or land in the water. Praetorius saw one pilot ditch on the starboard side of the ship and emerge from the cockpit, but, apparently caught on something, he went down with his plane. The planes also had trouble with depth charges exploding prematurely, and Praetorius saw one plane explode and "vaporize" three men. Praetorius laughed when he was asked if there were any times when he thought he would not make it. One memorable time was when he was on standby with a pilot who could not land at night. When an interpreter was needed from another ship, he was the only pilot available, and had to go up. Praetorius had to help him land the plane by radar and beacon.

When asked what it was like flying in the TBF [Annotator's Note: Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers aircraft], Leo Praetorius said he felt at home and was more comfortable in the plane than on the deck of the aircraft carrier. On his first submarine hunting mission, he was amazed at the vastness of the ocean. Praetorius always looked for the mechanic to give the "thumbs up" sign, and when he saw it, he would be at ease. The bombers were catapulted from the ship, and that was exciting, as was the premise of stopping the German u-boats that were costing the Americans so much in men and materials. Praetorius said that clearing the waters was something that had to be done. He looked upon the submarines as pieces of equipment that needed to be destroyed, and didn't think in terms of the people on board. When the carrier took on survivors, they were isolated and put under security to protect them from the American sailors. Praetorius said that as a fly-boy, he rarely saw them. He recalled that once the plane he was in came upon a sub that was pulled alongside what looked like a fishing boat. The sub was actually refueling, and the pilot detected it by the oil sheen on the water. Praetorius dropped his sonobouys and heard the propellers, and the gunner dropped a torpedo, but the sub did not explode. Rather, it ran out of fuel.

When the war in Europe was winding down, Leo Praetorius was brought back to the United States on standby, pending reassignment in the Pacific. Most of the flyboys from VC-19 [Annotator's Note: Composite Squadron 19 (VC-19)] went to Memphis, Tennessee, and Praetorius was trained on the last equipment he used during the war. He commented that the new radar equipment would always work "on the bench," but when it was exposed to the elements, false images would often appear on the radarscope. Sometimes it took personal initiative to overcome the problems. Praetorius was bored with the work, and said so, and was put on the paint chipping detail instead. When confronted with the idea of shifting from war in the Atlantic to another tour on the other side of the world, he was willing to go. Praetorius was reassigned to a PBY [Annotator's Note: Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat] squadron in Pensacola, Florida. He said it was a completely different aircraft, and he trained for a couple of months, but never got into combat in that equipment before the war ended.

Leo Praetorius was leaving for a trip back to New Orleans when he learned that Japan had surrendered. He had enough points to get out and did so immediately. While he was in service, Praetorius had married a New Orleans girl who remained his wife for 58 years, and he was ready to get back to civilian life. He reported to the Naval Air Station at the New Orleans Lakefront for discharge. Praetorius remembers the adjustment to civilian life being difficult. Good jobs were scarce, but with the help of family and friends he found employment as a bookkeeper. When he left the job, Praetorius was in charge of the accounting department of his firm. He moved from that to a job in air traffic control. He later learned that his ankle injury qualified him for veteran's disability benefits.

Leo Praetorius said his most memorable experience of the war was a flight when the ship radioed him that the plane he was flying in was lost over the vast ocean with only four hours of fuel. He said he joined the armed services because he was restless as a young man, and he saw the Navy as a way out of school and into real life. He knows that the war changed him. It took him from being a kid to being an adult. Today, he doesn't think about his service much, even though he he is willing to admit that enjoyed his time in the Navy. He believes we have to teach future generations about World War 2 so that they can stand up for their rights when called upon.