Templeton HS athlete and baseball hero perished in Philippines

OTTER RIVER – In 2018, a news story out of Portage, Michigan, brought to the forefront the name of Lt. Junior Grade John Lendo, whose World War II bomber that he piloted in 1944 was recovered from Lake Michigan.

There are likely few sports fans around today who recall the Otter River-born Lendo, but he was unquestionably one of the area’s greatest schoolboy athletes-turned-war hero.

His U.S. Navy Douglas SBD-2P Dauntless Dive Bomber was lost during a secret Great Lakes training mission on Feb. 18, 1944, when Lendo crashed into Lake Michigan.

Lendo, who helped lead Templeton High to the 1936 state baseball title, survived the incident. However, he died a hero 10 months later in an air fight in Luzon, the Philippines.

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In the 1944 crash, Lendo was attempting to land on an aircraft carrier after his engine cut out when the carburetor iced up, and Lendo was forced to land in the water.

However, before his days in the service, Johnny Lendo was a local athletic standout whose star shone in nearly every athletic arena and at every level possible.

This is the continuation of the series Remembering Local World War II Heroes.

Lt. Junior Grade John Lendo (1916 - 1944)

John Lendo was born on July 26, 1918 in Gardner, Mass. to Gabryel and Annie (Poliks) Lendo. A native of Pleasant St. Otter River, his father operated a small family store there.

Young Lendo gave early indication of his future greatness while a three-sport athlete at Templeton High School. As a junior in 1934, he set a school record returning an interception 95 yards for the lone score in a 6-0 football victory over Holden.

The following season, he was one of the major cogs in Templeton High’s greatest athletic class. The fall of 1935 saw the Hilltowners complete an 8-0 record, ranking as one of the top grid teams in the state. Lendo played fullback in a star-studded backfield that included quarterback Eddie “Zoo” Mizerick, and halfbacks Eddie Bullock and Vinnie Valliere.

He had a team-leading ten touchdowns and seven more TD passes to pace coach Chet Poliks’ multi-faceted offense. Templeton was the highest scoring team in the state with 249 points in eight games. Newspaper accounts singled out triple-threat Lendo as “a brilliant forward passer noted for his accuracy, a capable defensive player and an outstanding ball carrier.”

In the spring, the unheralded Templeton High baseball team captured the state schoolboy title at Fenway Park with an amazing 2-1 victory over powerhouse Somerville.

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Lendo, a pitcher and third baseman, hurled the squad into the finals with a 10-2 three-hit victory over Amherst in the state semifinals. In that game, he also tripled, singled twice and was so dominating from the mound that he not only struck out 10 batters, but he also had eight assists from the field.

His heroics continued against Somerville when he banged out three hits at Fenway Park, had two stolen bases and scored the eventual winning run in the third on Bullock’s bloop hit.

The Boston Herald was equally impressed with Lendo’s play noting, “Lendo was the best player afield, attracting the attention of the scores of coaches in attendance.”

Recruited by the Red Sox

While scouts from the Red Sox wanted to sign him, Lendo decided that a college education was more important.

Baseball had always been a big part of his life, going back to his youthful years when he was 15-years old and one of the top players on the semi-pro Tesco team of Temple Stuart Co.

Later, he teamed up with Howard Lashua’s Merchants, a collection of local diamond stars which included Eddie Woods, Bill Ladroga, Rollie Gustafson, Leo Menne, Frank Michniewicz and John “Black Jack” Reilly – each a local baseball legend.

Things only got better when he prepped a year at Worcester Academy, one of the all-time greats at that institution. He started in the backfield for the football squad which concluded its 1936 slate as undefeated New England Prep School champions. He also played for the basketball team, but it was again on the baseball diamond where he continued to raise eyebrows.

In his first mound start for the Academy baseball team, Lendo struck out 14 batters and followed that up with an 18-strike out effort in his next tilt. Through three games, the strikeout king had 44 K’s and was gaining attention throughout New England.

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He won the Robert J. Delahanty Prize upon graduation in 1937 as the athlete at Worcester Academy showing the best sportsmanship. Soon, teams from the Northern New England Semipro Baseball League came calling and Lendo spent that summer with the St. Johnsbury (Vt.) Senators.

High School teammate Mizerick and local hurler Freddie Waterman of Athol joined Lendo to form the pitching corps that season for the 33-13 champions.

Despite the fact that 19-year-old Lendo was the youngest player in the league, his excellent 12-3 pitching record earned him the Most Valuable Player award on the semipro squad.

In the fall of 1937, he matriculated at Dartmouth College where he was a member of the basketball team, but also made his mark there as a pitcher and infielder. The following summer saw Lendo return to the Northern League where he played for the Littleton (NH) Collegians.

He graduated from Dartmouth in 1941 and in July entered the U.S. Naval Reserves, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Corps. Two years later he married the former Elizabeth Boyden of Worcester, and by 1944 the newlyweds were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first child.

Trained as a pilot

In September 1944, Lendo was assigned to an aircraft carrier after receiving pilot training at Squantum and Pensacola, Fla. and was sent to the Pacific war theater.

Three months later, Lendo was piloting aircraft carrier San Jacinto over the Pacific, the second plane behind the skipper of the squadron in the midst of an air skirmish. After the pilots radioed their position over enemy territory, they were warned immediately to return to their command ship.

The radio transmission was the last that was ever heard of the crew. Lendo’s aircraft was shot down over northeastern Luzon in the Philippines.

According to the U. S. Government reports, Lendo was first reported missing on Dec. 14, 1944, although his parents were not notified of this until Jan. 8, 1945. And while the plane was never recovered, in 1946 he was officially pronounced missing in action.

Lendo’s wife gave birth to their only child, John, Jr. four months after his father’s death. Aside from his parents, he was also survived by one brother in the service at the time, Warrant Officer Henry Lendo, USMC, served in the Pacific.

His name is listed on the Otter River World War 2 monument, but there are no other memorials to this great local high school athlete-turned war hero. A simple gravestone in the family plot bears his name and the place where his remains would have rested had they ever been found.

Should the Narragansett High School Athletic Hall of Fame ever decide to induct athletes from the former Templeton High School, Johnny Lendo deserves to be the first for consideration.

(Comments and suggestions for Remembering Local World War 2 Heroes can be sent to Mike Richard at mikerichard0725@gmail.com or in writing Mike Richard, 92 Boardley Rd. Sandwich, MA 02563)

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Templeton MA star pitcher shot down over Luzon in the Philippines