DENVER (KDVR) — One of the few remaining Marines who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II was laid to rest Monday at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

Donald Earl Whipple, 99, died last month.

He was featured as the FOX31 Serving Those Who Serve Hero of the Month last December for his heroics during the bloodiest battle in the history of the Marine Corps 80 years ago on the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima. He received the Purple Heart when he was wounded by a mortar shell early in the battle. But he wanted to get right back to the fight.

So he went AWOL from a hospital ship moored off the island, talked his way onto a transport boat, and made a second landing on Iwo Jima.

He went right back to work as a radioman, helping with communications for 36 days in February and March 1945. He even witnessed history. He was standing on the hillside of Mount Suribachi as American flags were famously unfurled and photographed, creating the most iconic image of the entire war.

“Think of these guys that literally laid down their life for the cause there at Iwo Jima,” Whipple told us in December, reflecting on the more than 6,000 Marines who didn’t make it off that island alive.

After World War II, Whipple felt called to serve in a different way. His faith led him to an organization called Youth for Christ. He eventually became a pastor. And as he told us last year, he never stopped being a Marine.

“Well, I never really actually got out of the Marines. You never get out of it. Once a Marine, always a Marine."

Whipple was buried with full military honors Monday, surrounded by family, friends and fellow Marines.