Evergreen Community of Johnson County in Olathe resident, John O’Leary, celebrated his 100th birthday on December 23, 2016. The U.S. Marines Twitter page acknowledged retired Marine 1st Lt. O’Leary’s birthday with a post on December 28, 2016 by tweeting, “This week, one of the last living WWII Marine veterans, 1st Lt. John O’Leary, celebrated his 100th birthday. Give him one… hundred!” The tweet included a short video with Col. Thomas M. Fahy, on behalf of the Marines at Combat Logistics Regiment 4, thanking him for his service and wishing him a happy birthday.
Several websites picked up the story written by Sgt. Ian Leones. In the article, Sgt. Leones shared that O’Leary witnessed the bombardment on Iwo Jima and saw combat in Guam. He wrote that O’Leary’s pride for the Marine Corps never faded and that O’Leary was still sharp and had a great sense of humor. Sgt. Leones quoted O’Leary as saying, “The Marine Corps is a great organization. It’s full of a lot of dedicated individuals. I’m very proud of my time as a Marine.”
Among pictures in his room at Evergreen Community was an original copy of the photograph of the second flag-raising on Iwo Jima.
Evergreen Community staff and residents were honored to celebrate O’Leary’s birthday with him and will cherish the time spent with him. O’Leary passed away on January 11, 2017, surrounded by family members, Evergreen Community staff members, and Evergreen Hospice staff.
Picture credit: DVIDS
