Leo Joseph Blake was born in Rhineland, Texas, on November 18, 1925, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps 6th Division. He loved his family, including his nine siblings and his parents, Anton and Grace Blake, as well as homemade bread, real milk, and reading the paper. He loved his friends and community at Wichita Falls SHS and the track team he medaled with, and he was part of the larger family of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He loved his country enough to enlist in the Marines, where he became the captain's runner and was known as the Texas Longhorn. He was killed in action in Okinawa, Japan, on May 14, 1945, while defending Sugarloaf Hill on Mother's Day.