"Daniel Cain walks onto his Western Avenue porch, glances down the
street and back through fifty years to the days when he joshed and roughhoused with his cousin, George.
George Demers was killed in action over Japan at the the end of World War 2, but a half-century
passed before his family and the city dedicated a memorial to his honor.
That memorial - a veterans sign at one corner of Western and Mall Street just a half-block from
Cain's home - will be officially unveiled tomorrow. The sign is just yards away from where Demers grew up on Mall Street.
"It's long overdue but it feels good to see it," Cain said.
Demers cousin, Charlotte Fiasconaro, said, "Peter and Lillian never forgave themselves for signing
the enlistment form that allowed their only child to join the Army Air Corps." By the time the star athlete and standout student
volunteered for active duty the military was exempting "only" children from serving. "But he begged them to sign," Fiasconaro
said.
Lillian Demers never gave up hope that one way or another she would eventually learn George's
fate. That day never came.
Fiasconaro, Cain and other Demers relatives decided to shoulder this task last year. With Ward
4 City Councilor Robert Cipolletti's help, they worked with the city to dedicate a veteran plaque in Demers memory.
A stone bearing all crewmembers names is located in a national cemetery in Louisville. Cain
had a chance several years ago to speak with one of Demers friends who was in another bomber when he fell to the sea. He said,
"I watched him go right in."
