Building dedication honors Airman killed on 9/11

  • Published
  • By Capt. Caroline Wellman
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) --  Members of the 445th Airlift Wing here honored the life and service of one its former members who was killed as part of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by dedicating the new operations building to him Oct. 4 here.

Maj. LeRoy W. Homer Jr. died while serving as the first officer on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa. 

He was part of the Air Force Reserve Command's 445th AW from 1995 to 2000.

The emotion-filled day followed more than 2.5 years of planning and approval, said Lt. Col. Chris Clark, the 445th Operations Group deputy commander. Colonel Clark spearheaded the approval process and narrated the dedication ceremony.

The ceremony gave attending wing Airmen, local elected officials and base and community leaders a hint of the major's character and career.

Major Homer provided everyone with a "glimpse of the best of the human spirit," said Maj. Gen. Robert E. Duignan, the 4th Air Force commander and former 445th AW commander. The general called Major Homer a "true inspiration" who "never quit on America."

"Dressed in his United Airlines uniform, he led America into battle (Sept. 11, 2001)," General Duignan said. 

Major Homer was a real hero and the kind of person a commander wants in his unit, said Col. Stephen Goeman, the 445th AW commander. Major Homer's legacy should not be defined only by his actions on Sept. 11, 2001, but also by the years of service the major gave to his country as an Airman.

"We are proud to honor one of our own," Colonel Goeman said.

Major Homer earned his private pilot's license when he was 16, working 35 hours per week at night to pay for flying lessons. A few years later, he received a presidential nomination to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but chose instead to go to the U.S. Air Force Academy because he wanted to fly airplanes, not helicopters, said his mother, Ilse Homer.

He loved to fly and he loved his job, said Mrs. Homer of her late husband. He would be honored to have a building named for him, but would probably also feel the honor was undeserved.

Mrs. Homer thanked the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base community for recognizing her husband's sacrifice and for providing one more way to ensure that his legacy will not be forgotten.

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