Meet Thomas Leonard, AKA Snake

“We Honor Veterans Program” is VNAHSR’s way of honoring veterans receiving Hospice services to offer gratitude and recognition for their dedicated service in their final days. Our wonderful hospice volunteers pinned and gave certificates ~50 veterans in 2025. Here is Thomas’ story.

Thomas “Tom” Leonard was known as “Snake” by his fellow pilots when he was in the service. He reminisces with his daughters, Karen and Wanda, about the time he served as a pilot for both the Air Force and the Air National Guard. He said, “Whatever they needed me to do, I did it, and I loved it!” He said he was happiest whenever he could be flying. His daughters say they are very proud of their father—not only for his military service but also for his ability to own and manage a thriving apple orchard.

Tom rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the military after more than twenty-five years of service. He knew he always wanted to fly since he was a young boy. He remembered being at airports and watching planes take off and land. He said he dreamed, even then, of one day becoming a pilot. He credits his mother for believing in him and his dreams. She supported him and worked hard to make sure he could attend college in order to someday become a military pilot.

He studied agriculture in college and always loved watching things grow, but he said that his first love would always be flying. After graduating from college, he went to flight school and joined the Air National Guard and the Air Force in the early 1960s. He met his future wife in college, and throughout the years of his military service, he not only managed the apple orchard in New York but also raised two daughters and a son. He still loves to see things grow, and if you ask him about his favorite apples, he will always say, “Macintosh, Cortland, and Spys.”

Growing up, Karen and Wanda remembered him flying and also being stationed in Greenland, where he helped train Air Force pilots. His daughters recall one Christmas when he came home and they were watching a TV show about Greenland. It showed how the military staff at the station helped struggling local families enjoy the holiday season. They remember their dad saying, “Hey, look there, that is the Christmas tree I supplied!”

Karen shared an award her dad received for his military service. He was cited for achieving ten thousand flight hours over the course of his career without an accident. She also brought out a replica model of a C-130 cargo plane. She said those were the planes her father flew, and that he flew a variety of missions, including medical evacuations, cargo and troop transport, and aerial refueling. Tom’s eyes lit up when he was handed the plane to hold. He said he remembered building that model with his son.

Tom also was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, which is a military decoration that highlights an individual’s outstanding and exemplary service. It was bestowed on him by command of the governor of New York.

Even now, if Tom hears a plane overhead, he looks up and remembers his love of flying. He wishes he could still fly but is thankful that he lived his dream—to fly high above the clouds and serve his country.

Pictured: Thomas Leonard, with his daughter Wanda, who has Rio on her lap, and daughter Karen on the other side. T picture of him getting ready to fly in earlier days. In the cover photo, he is holding the model K-130 he built with his son.