Albion will put up ‘Hometown Hero’ banners first for soldiers killed in action

Other banners of veterans will go up after Strawberry Festival in June

Photo by Tom Rivers: A banner for Rick Engle is among about 100 that have been on display in Albion highlighting local veterans. Engle was 19 when he was killed in Vietnam on Feb. 2, 1968. Engle’s banner will be displayed on Route 31 near Albion Central School just before Memorial Day. Engle and other veterans who were killed in action will be featured about a month before the full group of banners goes up in downtown Albion, on Main Street and along Route 31.

ALBION – The Village of Albion will put up banners of veterans who were killed in action in mid-May, about two weeks before Memorial Day.

Village officials want to honor the sacrifices of those veterans and send a strong message about the meaning of Memorial Day.

After the Strawberry Festival from June 9-10, the banners for other veterans will be displayed. There are about 100 in all.

The village puts up about 40 banners for the Strawberry Festival in the downtown area. Last year, with the return of the festival after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021, there were some hard feelings when the Strawberry Festival banners went up and the banners for veterans didn’t go up until June, after the festival.

The village started displaying the “Hometown Hero” banners in 2020. The first two years of the Hometown Hero banners there wasn’t a Strawberry Festival. There are only so many poles to display the banners, and sponsors paid to be included on the festival banners.

The village believes it has found a good solution by highlighting the veterans who died in service first. That grouping is being finalized. The village is working with the Veterans Service Agency to check the records. The list currently includes as many as seven veterans who have been featured on the banners in the past.

It definitely includes Jason Johnson. He is the last person from Albion to be killed in the line of duty. Specialist Johnston was 24 when he was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb in the War on Terror on Dec. 26, 2009. Johnston was on his second deployment. He also was a paratrooper.

The banners for those killed in action will be on Route 31 near the school district, where the community holds a Memorial Day service and there is a Vietnam War memorial.

Mike Bonnewell, retired Albion school district superintendent, made the suggestion that the first group of banners to be displayed in time for Memorial Day include those who were killed in service to the country.

“As a Marine Corps infantry veteran myself, I am thankful and proud of each member who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” said Mayor Angel Javier Jr. “Without these veterans we wouldn’t be here today.”