MiddletownJournal.com

Springfield, Ohio — One of Springfield's own will march right into history in President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural parade on Jan. 20.

Dale Henry — a former Springfield mayor and city commissioner and current regional liaison to Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office — was selected by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to march in the inaugural parade with the Civil War re-enactors representing the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Henry will march with Company I, a South Carolina-based re-enactors group.

Company I will fall in with two other companies out of Boston and Washington, D.C., said Joseph McGill Jr., founding member of the company.

At least 79 men and 23 women will participate, but all of the logistics are still being worked out, McGill added.

"It's my understanding that there were 1,400 applicants (for the inaugural parade) and only 100 were chosen," McGill explained. "Whoever made those decisions had a hard task."

The regiment, a unit of the U.S. Colored Troops, is especially important to Henry because two of his great-grandfathers served in the Civil War.

"I thank God for the opportunity to participate in this event," Henry said. "I'm really looking forward to representing my two great-grandfathers in these march."

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.