Corporal John Danley and Lofton Henderson

In honor of Memorial Day, here's a pair of articles that appeared adjacent to each other (as shown) on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald on May 7, 1919 – 95 years ago this month.

The top article is about the location of the final resting place of Corporal John Danley, who according to the article was "the first Lorain man to give his life for the freedom of the world." Danley had been killed on the World War I battlefield at Bellau Wood on June 14, 1918. He is buried in a graveyard in France near Lucy-le-Bocage.

Right below the Danley article on the front page of the Times-Herald is an article about a Victory bond sale being conducted by the Boy Scouts. None other than young Lofton Henderson – who would years later also give his life for freedom and become one of Lorain's best known hometown heroes during World War II – had the honor of selling the largest number of bonds so far in the drive.

Let's all keep in mind the true meaning of Memorial Day: to remember and pay tribute to the brave men and women who died while in active military service to our country.

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By the way, I noticed the other day that Henderson Drive is still identified as Henderson Avenue on signs at the intersection of Route 611 and Kansas Avenue. (I first called attention to this back here on the blog. I also contacted the Mayor of Lorain through his website at the time.)

Well, I sent another email through the Mayor's website last week to remind them that it's been almost a year since my last email.

Wouldn't it be great if a replacement sign with the correct street name also included the full name and likeness of Major Henderson? There's plenty of room on that pole for a bigger sign.

Come to think of it, I'm not even sure that there's a sign over on Danley Square honoring Corporal Danley. I guess Lorain might need two signs made.

How about it, Lorain?