Kevin Benjamin "Legs" Leggett (30 April 1921-13 June 1944) was a US Army Private First Class who served in the US 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.
Biography[]
Kevin Leggett was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York on 30 April 1921, and he joined the US Army during World War II. Leggett was assigned to 3rd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, US 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment as a radio operator, relaying radio messages to headquarters for Sergeant Greg Hassay. During a mission to capture a farmhouse during the Battle of Saint-Come-du-Mont on 9 June 1944, Leggett was sent with Privates Larry Allen and Michael Garnett to flank the barn. However, Leggett was rivals with the two men, stemming from their disputes over their favorite comic book characters (Leggett insisted that Batman could defeat Superman, the favorite of Allen and Garnett). Leggett and Allen got into a fight, ignoring Garnett's warning that there were German soldiers nearby. The Germans shot Garnett in the head, killing him, while Allen was mortally wounded; Allen succeeded in killing the German soldiers before himself dying of his wounds. Leggett was devastated by their deaths, and he was hated by his squadmates for letting his comrades die. Leggett would later fight in the Battle of Carentan, where he told British-American soldier Mike Dawson the secret about how Allen and Garnett died; Sergeant Matthew Baker had told Leggett to keep this a secret to prevent his squadmates from killing him in revenge.
On 13 June, Leggett took part in the defense of Carentan at the Battle of Bloody Gulch. During the battle, his radio was damaged, and he could not hear any incoming messages; however, his frantic calls for armored support were heard, and the US 2nd Armored Division would later arrive to save the day. However, Leggett would not live to see this, as a German tank arrived and attacked the American trench. A deranged Leggett began to taunt the tank and shot at it several times with a pistol, telling it to "take him". Leggett was killed in the ensuing blast, He survived by his 3 year old son Kevin Jr.
