Final Survivor of the First Iwo Jima Flag Raising to Speak
Missouri Military Academy is proud to welcome Cpl. Leo Champagne USMC (Ret), the last survivor of the first flag raising on Iwo Jima as the guest speaker during Homecoming 2010 – Honoring Our Own activities. He will speak at 2:15 p.m. Sept. 24 in Centennial Gymtorium. This event is open to the public at no cost.
Cpl. Champagne of Ocala, Fla., will address the 122nd MMA Corps of Cadets, “setting the record straight” on the events of the momentous battle of Iwo Jima.
Cpl. Champagne was born and raised in Maine. In June of 1943, at age 17, he graduated from high school, and just two weeks later he enlisted in the Marine Corps.
“In the early 1940s that was not unusual,” he recalls. “It was a very patriotic time.”
After completing basic training, he was assigned to the 5th Marine Division, just as it was forming at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Calif. After very intensive training, he was part of the invasion force that landed on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945.
On Feb. 23, he was in the platoon chosen to be the first unit to attempt the climb of Mt. Suribachi, and if successful, to raise the American flag. He was one of the four men who raised the first flag. Of the 42 member platoon who first climbed Mt. Suribachi, only 11 walked off the island. He is now the last living survivor of that group.
“MMA is honored to have Cpl. Champagne, a distinguished veteran and a living piece of American history address our young men and the community as a whole,” MajGen Robert M. Flanagan, USMC (Ret), Academy President.
Cpl. Champagne will give his personal account of the events that took place on top of Mt. Suribachi that day in 1945.
Cpl. Champagne will also participate in activities surrounding the dedication of MMA’s Wall of Honor for alumni veterans during Homecoming activities.