Lou Lenart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | לו לנרט |
| Born | Lajos Lenovitz (1921-04-24)April 24, 1921 |
| Died | July 20, 2015(2015-07-20) (aged 94) Ra'anana, Israel |
| Language | English and Hebrew |
| Spouse | Rachel Nir (? – July 20, 2015) (his death) |
| Children | 1 |
Louis Lenart (Hebrew:לואי לנרט; April 24, 1921 – July 20, 2015) was a Hungarian-born American-Israeli fighter pilot.[1] His exploits during the1948 Arab-Israeli War were documented in the 2015 documentary filmA Wing and a Prayer.[2]
Lenart was born inHungary asLajos Lenovitz to aJewish family in 1921, in the town ofSátoraljaújhely, near the Czechoslovak border. His parents were farmers. When he was ten, the family immigrated to theUnited States, settling in thePennsylvania mining town ofWilkes-Barre, where his parents ran a small store. As a boy, he endured antisemitic taunts and beatings.[3][4][5]
After finishing high school and taking a bodybuilding course, Lenart enlisted in theUnited States Marine Corps. After 18 months of infantry training, he was accepted into flight school. During flight training, he was severely injured in a mid-air collision. He saw action in the Pacific Theater ofWorld War II as anF4U Corsair pilot, serving in theBattle of Okinawa and in bombing missions overJapan. He was discharged from the Marines at the end of the war with the rank of captain.[4][6]
.png)
After learning that 14 relatives including his grandmother had been murdered in theAuschwitz concentration camp and attending a lecture onZionism, Lenart decided to volunteer forSherut Avir, the precursor to theIsraeli Air Force. He took part in the clandestine smuggling of salvaged Czech-supplied warplanes to Palestine shortly before Israeli independence, flying them past the British blockade. He became a fighter pilot following theIsraeli Declaration of Independence and the outbreak of the1948 Arab-Israeli War, flying theAvia S-199 fighter plane.
On May 29, 1948, Lenart took part inOperation Pleshet, when the Israeli Air Force launched its entire fleet of four fighter aircraft in a desperate attempt to halt an Egyptian advance onTel Aviv, in coordination with a ground counterattack. This was the first use of Israeli fighter planes in combat, and Lenart, the most experienced of the pilots, commanded the mission. Although the attack was highly disorganized and did minimal damage, it had a profound psychological effect on the Egyptians, who had been assured that the Israelis had no aircraft. The Egyptian forces subsequently halted their advance and retreated.[7][8][9]
After the war, Lenart participated inOperation Ezra and Nehemiah, the airlift ofIraqi Jews to Israel in the early 1950s, served as a pilot forEl Al, and flew aerial mapping missions over the jungles ofCentral America.
He produced six feature films. These include "Iron Eagle" and "Iron Eagle 2".[10] Lenart's final movie project had the working titleFirst Strike, and usedOperation Opera, the 1981 attack on Iraq's reactor, as a story line. The script was written by his friendLynn Garrison, who would also direct the aerial sequences.[11]
Lenart was the general manager of theSan Diego Clippers in the early 1980s.[1] He maintained homes in Israel andLos Angeles, and upon his retirement, settled permanently in Israel.[6]
Lenart died on July 20, 2015, at his home inRa'anana, Israel, of congestive heart failure, at the age of 94. He was survived by his wife Rachel, his daughter Michal (who had also served in the Israeli Air Force) and a grandson.[6][7]
Lenart received the following awards during his service with the U.S. Marine Corps:[12][13]
 | ||
  | ||
  |  |  |
 |  |  |
Lenart received the following decoration for his service in the Israeli Air Force:
 | War of Independence Ribbon |