†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
See the Virtual Cemetery on my profile of some of the men that served in WWII with Victor. Victor wrote a book, Out Front with Able" 1941-1945 as a tribute to members of Troop "A" 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. I have added Victor's tribute to the pages of the men I was able to find.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
Victor had a huge passion for genealogy & dedicated much of his life to tracing where the Leiker's originated in Germany. He chronicled his journey in "The Leikers in America" book. He lived in Germany for a time while in the military & again later after leaving the military. He spent this time talking to locals; trying to obtain old records; & observing dialect, cooking, architecture, etc. for similarities to Munjor settlers.
Victor came from a family of farmers but chose journalism as his career path. At the age of 32, he purchased the Christopher Progress in Christopher, IL. He owned this newspaper from 1949 to 1955. During this time, Victor outted the local government for alleged misuse of public funds & not following proper procedures for reporting the allocation of funds to the public. When a business threatened to stop advertising in his paper if he didn't stop his crusade, he responded with a front page editorial entitled "Freedom of the Press is Valued Above the Advertising Dollar", exclaiming that he will not be silenced. This would not be his last fight against government agencies, as Victor was not afraid to fight for his beliefs.
Sources:
1949-06-17 Mount Vernon Register (IL)
1950-06-06 Hays Daily News (KS)
1955-01-28 Mount Vernon Register (IL)
1955-01-28 Southern Illinoisan (IL)
1996-04-08 Hays Daily News (KS)
"The Leikers in America" book is available in the Kansas Room of the Hays Public Library
=======================================================================
Per the comment below from Charles A. Lewis, additional military information is available at https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=314573
=======================================================================
The information below was added by the original page creator Kat
Rank: Major
A Troop
89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
US Army
World War II veteran
Awards:
Distinguished Service Cross - Captain (Cavalry) Victor C. Leiker, United States Army, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, in action against enemy forces from 27 to 31 March 1945. Captain Leiker's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. - General Orders: Headquarters, First U.S. Army, General Orders No. 92 (1945)
Author:
Memoranda of Memories, 89th Cav RCN Sqdn, Reunion in Europe, 1970.
Injun Joe's Scouts: The War and the 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron.
Out Front with Able.
Editor: Conquering The Wind, published 1975.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
See the Virtual Cemetery on my profile of some of the men that served in WWII with Victor. Victor wrote a book, Out Front with Able" 1941-1945 as a tribute to members of Troop "A" 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. I have added Victor's tribute to the pages of the men I was able to find.
†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††
Victor had a huge passion for genealogy & dedicated much of his life to tracing where the Leiker's originated in Germany. He chronicled his journey in "The Leikers in America" book. He lived in Germany for a time while in the military & again later after leaving the military. He spent this time talking to locals; trying to obtain old records; & observing dialect, cooking, architecture, etc. for similarities to Munjor settlers.
Victor came from a family of farmers but chose journalism as his career path. At the age of 32, he purchased the Christopher Progress in Christopher, IL. He owned this newspaper from 1949 to 1955. During this time, Victor outted the local government for alleged misuse of public funds & not following proper procedures for reporting the allocation of funds to the public. When a business threatened to stop advertising in his paper if he didn't stop his crusade, he responded with a front page editorial entitled "Freedom of the Press is Valued Above the Advertising Dollar", exclaiming that he will not be silenced. This would not be his last fight against government agencies, as Victor was not afraid to fight for his beliefs.
Sources:
1949-06-17 Mount Vernon Register (IL)
1950-06-06 Hays Daily News (KS)
1955-01-28 Mount Vernon Register (IL)
1955-01-28 Southern Illinoisan (IL)
1996-04-08 Hays Daily News (KS)
"The Leikers in America" book is available in the Kansas Room of the Hays Public Library
=======================================================================
Per the comment below from Charles A. Lewis, additional military information is available at https://militaryhallofhonor.com/honoree-record.php?id=314573
=======================================================================
The information below was added by the original page creator Kat
Rank: Major
A Troop
89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
US Army
World War II veteran
Awards:
Distinguished Service Cross - Captain (Cavalry) Victor C. Leiker, United States Army, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, in action against enemy forces from 27 to 31 March 1945. Captain Leiker's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. - General Orders: Headquarters, First U.S. Army, General Orders No. 92 (1945)
Author:
Memoranda of Memories, 89th Cav RCN Sqdn, Reunion in Europe, 1970.
Injun Joe's Scouts: The War and the 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron.
Out Front with Able.
Editor: Conquering The Wind, published 1975.
Family Members
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Philomena Leiker
1898–1899
-
Pauline Leiker Klaus
1900–1989
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Alexander S "Alex" Leiker
1901–1991
-
Adeline Leiker Klaus
1902–1985
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Anna Matilda Leiker Bieker
1903–1983
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Amelia Leiker
1905–1905
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Alois S Leiker
1906–1981
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Cecilia Leiker Gross
1907–2001
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Philomena Rose "Minnie" Leiker Pfannenstiel
1909–1995
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Edward S Leiker
1910–1998
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Henry S Leiker
1911–2002
-
Rose Celestina Leiker Kryzer
1913–1996
-
Carl S Leiker
1914–1997
-
Mary Anastasia Leiker Leiker
1918–2005
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