After earning his degree from Harvard Law School in 1940, Mr. Leva was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Following World War II, he became counsel to the Comptroller of the Navy, counsel to the Secretary of the Navy, first general counsel to the Department of Defense, and the first Assistant Secretary of Defense. Today, he is senior partner in the Washington law firm of Leva, Hawes, Mason, and Martin. He served as navigating officer of the LST-386 from her commissioning to her decommissioning, and as executive officer during the landings at Anzio and Normandy.
