The Story of the Flag Pole

The flag pole and flag that flies between St. Joseph Church and rectory was recently lowered, the pole sanded, painted, new ropes, hardware and flag installed and hoisted back into position for Memorial Day. The label plate on it was polished and reinstalled back into its position. The name plate is inscribed " In Memory of Leo Blanchard  1924-1945". Joseph Roger Leo Blanchard was born in Baltic on June 5th 1924, lived in Versailles and was a parishioner at St. Joseph Church. He was drafted into the Service during World War 2 and became a Radioman, Third Class (Rm3) and was stationed aboard the submarine USS Swordfish (SS-193). 

    On December 22 1944, Swordfish left Pearl Harbor to conduct photographic reconnaissance of Okinawa for preparation of the Okinawa Campaign. On January 2 1945, Swordfish was ordered delay in carrying out her assigned task until completion of carrier-based air strikes were completed. On January 9 1945, Swordfish was directed to proceed to the vicinity of Okinawa to carry out her special mission. It was estimated that the task would not take more than seven days after arrival on station, which she should have reached on January 11. Upon completion of her mission, Swordfish was to proceed to Saipan, or to Midway if she was unable to transmit by radio. Since neither place had seen her by January 15, and repeated attempts to raise her by radio had failed, she was presumed lost at sea on that date. 

    Japanese information on anti-submarine attacks does not mention any attack in which Swordfish is likely to have been the victim. It was known there were many mines planted around Okinawa, since the Japanese were  expecting an allied invasion of that island. It is considered about equally likely that Swordfish was sunk by depth charge attack before she reached Okinawa for her special mission or that she was lost to a mine at that place. The official loss date is January 12, 1945, location near Yaku Island off Kyushu Japan. 

    The Honolulu Memorial, a structure erected in honor of "someone whose remains lie elsewhere" is located in Honolulu, Honolulu County,  Hawaii, USA, and his Memorial ID number is 56115620. 

    Radioman, Third Class Leo Blanchard was awarded the "Purple Heart" and his death was recorded as " January 12, 1945 (aged 20),  lost at sea.