Family, friends, and fellow veterans joined together to honor the memory of Leonard F. Mason, who was killed in action in Guam during World War 2. His actions earned him the Medal of Honor after his death. He was buried at sea and does not have a grave back in Lima, but now, a new Medal of Honor memorial marker is placed nearby his parents' grave - a first for Allen County.
"This today here, all these years later, is the first time we've had a marker here in Allen County, which is where he moved in with his parents when he was in his mid teens," said Lawrence Huffman, a member of American Legion Lima Post 96.
The ceremony featured an unveiling of the new marker alongside remarks from different groups and a rifle salute, all to be sure that Private First-Class Mason will not be forgotten.
"It's been said that every man dies twice - the first one is obvious to everybody, with the second being when we no longer remember his name - and I think in Allen County, the name Leonard Foster Mason will be remembered and repeated for a long, long time," Huffman said.
For Leonard's son Larry, now having a permanent reminder of his father is something that means a lot.
"He was buried at sea and we never had a place we could go to; I really appreciate all they did for this because now I've got a place to come to, there will be people, not family necessarily, that will stop by here and I'm really proud of it," said Mason.
