The late Leon Frankel, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, was operating with co-partner, Louis Borick, a vehicle dealership in Minot when he got a call from a man who said his name was Steve Schwartz. Schwartz told Frankel that Israel was in desperate need of pilots. He said Israel was going to declare independence and anticipated being attacked by several armies.

Frankel had distinguished himself as a World War II U.S. Navy pilot flying the Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber.

Shortly after receiving the call to come to Israel, Frankel left Minot.

“It was pretty quick – within a week or so,” Frankel told The Minot Daily News in an interview in April 2013.

Eloise Ogden/MDN This photo signed by Leon Frankel was painted by artist Scott Nelson of Solen and hangs in the Legends Hangar at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot. Frankel flew a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber during World War II.

Taking a leave of absence from the Naval Reserve, he traveled overseas. Eventually, due to various issues coming up during his travel, he arrived in Israel, where he became a member of Israel’s first fighter squadron, one of 101 volunteer pilots from the U.S. and other countries who formed Israel’s air force, flying Messerschmitt-109s.

According to biographical information about Frankel, he flew 25 missions in the Czechoslovakian-built ME-109s during Israel’s battle for independence in 1948.

Frankel returned to the U.S. later in 1948, rejoined his Navy Reserve squadron and remained with it until he was discharged in 1959.

In his interview with The Minot Daily News, he said he had been back to Israel “probably 20 or more times.”

Frankel is one of the pilots featured in the documentary film “Above and Beyond: The Birth of the Israeli Air Force.” Produced by Nancy Spielberg, younger sister of filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the film, released in 2014, celebrates the pilots who laid the foundation for the Israeli air force.

Submitted Photo This painting by Scott Nelson of Solen shows the plane Leon Frankel flew in Israel. Frankel left Minot to help Israel in 1948.

Frankel said he never regretted going to Israel to help.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I had not done it,” he said

Frankel died in October 2015 at the age of 92.