1943. Leone High School and Midkiff Elementary School are situated today where the airfield once was located. It was abandoned in early 1945 due to turbulent air currents and lack of use. The airstrip was meant to be a Marine Corps fighter strip, but only a total of two airplanes were able to land and take off before the strip was declared unsafe due to the turbulent air currents. In October 1982, residents in Leone celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first missionary, John Williams. The Catholic Church in town celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Sisters School, which was established in Leone in 1883 by Sisters Mary St. Vincent, St. Claire, and St. Thérese. Modern times The highest-ranking Samoan military serviceman to lose his life in the War in Iraq, U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Max Galeai, was killed in Karmah, Iraq on June 26, 2008. He was from Leone and is buried in the village. Leone had the most victims in American Samoa in the 2009 tsunami. A memorial garden - Leone Healing Garden - was created on the So Poloa family land, where most of the 11 victims were found. The garden commemorates the loss of the 2009 tsunami that killed 22 and injured hundreds of Leone residents. Located just offshore are remnants of a fishing ship that was damaged by the 2018 cyclone Gita. In 2011, Leone Post Office was dedicated and replaced an older one destroyed by the 2009 tsunami. In 2012, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi suggested American Samoa construct a wharf at Leone Bay in order to reduce the travel time between Samoa and Tutuila. It is approximately forty miles between Upolu Island and Tutuila. In December 2012, a police substation was dedicated in Leone. The new station was constructed with federal funds. On November 1, 2014, a drive-by shooting took place in Leone. Several gunshots were fired at the front of the Leone Police Substation. No officers or other personnel were injured. Four bullets were later recovered from inside the station. Four men were charged for the shooting, which took place when two police officers were inside the station. Tsunami Leone was devastated by a tsunami on September 29, 2009. The tsunami was generated by a magnitude 8.0 undersea earthquake. Eleven people in Leone were killed by the tsunami. The victims were two children and nine adults, including elderly parents. The day