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NevillMagic5 Paul Leo Ortego

 Paul Leo Ortego, January 8, 1985-August 9, 1947. Born in Plaucheville, Louisiana. Was the oldest of nine children of parents Felix Ortego and Caroline Firmin Ortego. The family migrated to Alexandria, Louisiana when Felix found work there and resided at 1204 Elliot Street. Leo attended West End Grammar where he received an Honorable Mention in a Free Hand Drawing contest, played basketball, attended church, and was listed as Assistant Secretary to his Sunday School group. During his teen years, he worked as a clerk at Rapides Drug Company.
 When President Woodrow Wilson declared the United States had entered World War I in 1917, at 22, Leo was one of the first to enlist from Alexandria. He served in the trenches and was part of the 1st Aero Squadron, serving in the air as both a pilot and observer (seated behind the pilot, facing backward, manning a camera and gun.) He was shot down once but was able to land the plane safely. On another occasion, his pilot clipped a mountain and crashed, where Leo sustained injuries that included a broken collar bone, shoulder, and right leg. He remained in the Army overseas after the war, where he served as an engineer and quartermaster, and he was discharged as Sgt. 1st Class Quartermaster.
 Leo wrote a letter to the editor of the Alexandria Town Talk, Mr. R. C. Jarreau, dated July 1, 1917, giving a brief report from the "boys in France." He wrote that he was required to re-submit the letter after sensors disapproved of the details he gave about the war. The letter also stated that his unit was greeted well by the French, and since he already knew Cajun French, he could communicate better than others in his unit.
 Leo brought a German bride home, but the marriage didn't last. His second wife, Verdia Stewart Ortego, recalled his telling of how the American Flag was flown over Rapides Drug Store in Alexandria when news came that Leo was serving overseas and of his desire to build a plane that could stand still in the air and rise and lower vertically. After returning from the war, he went to his workshop, used the materials he found around him, aluminum and boxwood, and invented the world's first patented manned helicopter. He figured out how to stabilize the helicopter by placing two rotors on the wings. 
 Solicitations for "half-interest in patent and proceeds investors" were made in Aero Digest, July 1922, and Scientific American Magazine, July 1927 to no avail.
 Leo also invented and patented a "Light Operated Switch" and was in the process of submitting a patent for a "Flying Car" when he passed away in August 1947.
 Photos of the Leo Ortego helicopter are on file in the Joe Dellmon collection in the Louisiana State Library at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, Louisiana. Leo Ortego and his helicopter are also featured in the book "Lost Louisiana" by Norman C. Ferachi, published in 1985 by Beauregard Press, which can be found in most libraries in Louisiana. "Rapides Remembers, 1875-1975 also has a photo of Leo Ortego at the controls of his helicopter, along with an article. 
 Many articles have been published about Leo Ortego's accomplishments in the Alexandria Town Talk Newspaper. A historical marker will soon be placed at the Alexandria International Airport, honoring his contribution to aviation history.