Lexington history: VA campuses named for Kentucky soldiers who fought at Iwo Jima

Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.

After years of planning, officials in Lexington dedicated the Veterans’ Hospital on May 31, 1931.

The sprawling $2.5 million facility (nearly $53 million in today’s dollars) included six buildings, the tallest of which was the four-story administration building, and two farmhouses. The site was specifically chosen so the facility could be seen for miles.

When it was dedicated, plans were already in the works to add more buildings to the site, including a recreation building and living quarters for Dr. Jo M. Ferguson, the medical officer in charge and other staff members.

The facility opened in February 1931 after nine months of construction and was considered “one of the most magnificent architectural displays in the part of the state.” The facility was intended to accept patients from six states — Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, Arkansas and North Carolina.

According to the Lexington Herald, the facility received its first patient in March. By its dedication day, Ferguson and his staff had already treated and released 125 patients and had 115 patients admitted by May 30. The hospital’s initial capacity of 250 had already been increased to 280.

The total staff at the hospital was 175, including eight medical officers and 19 nurses, with plans to transfer additional doctors and medical personnel there as patient needs warranted it.

After an invocation by Mrs. Virgil McClure, president of the National War Mothers, and an introduction by Ferguson, speakers at the dedication event included Kentucky Gov. Flem Sampson, U.S. Rep. Maurice Thatcher, and U.S. Sen. Alben Barkley.

Following the hour-long ceremony, the more than 3,000 attendees were given the opportunity to tour the building.

The VA now has two campuses in Lexington, both named after Kentuckians who fought at Iwo Jima. The Franklin Sousley Campus on Leestown Road treats PTSD and offers substance abuse treatment, as well as nursing home care, hospice care and respite services The Troy Bowling Campus on Veterans Drive offers emergency care, inpatient medical-surgery care, acute psychiatry and ambulatory surgery.

The Franklin Sousley campus is named after one of the six Marines who raised the second of two U.S. flags on top of Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima.

Born in Hill Top, Kentucky, Sousley joined the Marines at 19 after being drafted. Sousley had graduated from Fleming High School in 1943 and had moved to Ohio to work in a refrigerator factory.

Once he joined, he was sent to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. Six months later, his division was sent to Hawaii to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima.

On the morning of Feb. 23, the company was ordered to take a platoon-sized patrol up the 556-foot Mount Suribachi to seize it and raise the battalion’s flag once the summit was secure.

After a brief firefight at the rim of the summit, the patrol took control of the hill. Soldiers found a steel pipe to use as a flagpole and attached the flag to it.

However, commanders decided that the flag was too small to be seen by the thousands of Marines fighting on the other side of the mountain, and that a larger flag should be taken up and flown there.

Sgt. Michael Strank was ordered to take Marines from his rifle squad and raise a larger flag. Strank chose Sousley as one of his men. As they placed the flag on top of Mount Suribachi, it was captured in a now iconic photograph, “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.”

The Troy Bowling campus was named for a Kentucky Marine who was severely wounded during the same battle.

Bowling joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 17. He was among the first wave to take Mount Suribachi at the Battle of Iwo Jima, and was shot in the chest and leg.

“As I lay bleeding on the black sands of Iwo Jima, I looked to the heavens promising that if I survived, I would serve mankind for the rest of my life,” Bowling said.

His unit received the Presidential Unit Citation and Bowling received a Purple Heart. From 1949 to 1975, Bowling worked for the U.S. Postal Service, and in 1951 began training with the Disabled American Veterans.

Bowling rose through the ranks from Service Officer to State Commander. Over his 66 years of service with the Disabled American Veterans, he spent more than 78,000 hours in service, helping hundreds of veterans and their widows file claims for benefits. In June, just days before his death, he was nominated to be inducted into the Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame.

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.