Lopez Elementary was built in 1984.

The school colors are black and gold. The school mascot is the leopard.

The school was named after First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez. He was born August 23, 1925 in Tampa, Florida and attended Hillsborough High School.

Baldomero Lopez was a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for smothering a hand grenade with his own body during the Inchon Landing, on September 15, 1950.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, 1st Lt Lopez's decorations include the Purple Heart Medal, Presidential Unit Citation with one bronze star, China Service Medal, and Korean Service Medal with two bronze stars.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean war, he volunteered for duty as an infantry officer in Korea. He was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant on June 16, 1950.

The photograph above of a lone Marine leading his men over the seawall at the Battle of Inchon during the Korea War, is First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez. Lopez was forever immortalized in a picture of him leading his men over the seawall at Inchon.

The photo was taken during the Assault on Red Beach, 5th Marines, September 15, 1950.

A few minutes after it was taken, Lieutenant Lopez sacrificed his life, smothering a live hand grenade with his own body to protect his men.

It was an act of bravery that earned him the Nation's top military decoraion, the Medal of Honor

News of his heroic death spread quickly among fellow Marines on the battlefronts. A Scripps-Howard war correspondent, Jerry Thorp, said in a news story on 1stLt Lopez's deed that he "died with the courage that makes men great."