Editing LeRoy Homer Jr. (section)

==Early life==
[[File:4.28.12LeRoyWHomerPanelS-67ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|Homer's name is located on Panel S-67 of the [[National September 11 Memorial]]'s South Pool, along with those of other passengers and crew of [[Flight 93]].]]
Homer, son of a West German woman and an American soldier who was stationed in West Germany, grew up on [[Long Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]]. He was one of nine children, and seven of his siblings were girls. As a child, he assembled model airplanes, collected aviation memorabilia and read books on aviation. Whenever the family held events where men weren't invited, his father would take him to McArthur Airport where they would watch the planes takeoff and land.<ref name="i506">{{cite web | title=[ LeROY HOMER JR.... ]: [REGION Edition] | website=ProQuest | date=28 October 2001 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/391214063 | access-date=11 February 2025}}</ref> He was 15 years old when he started flight instruction in a [[Cessna 152]]. Working part-time jobs after school to pay for flying lessons, he completed his first solo trip at the age of 16 and obtained his private pilot's certificate in 1983. Homer graduated from [[Ss. Cyril and Methodius School]] in 1979 and [[St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School]] in 1983.{{fact|date=February 2023}}