Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • A2

A2 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017 DECATUR HERALD REVIEW 1 LOCAL This week at heraldreview.com/calendar Today Scrapbooking and craft day, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mount Zion District Library. $15. Sunday 5 p.m., Millikin University Pipe Dreams Studio Theatre. $12.

On a sweltering summer morning in 1892, in a small New England city, a prominent businessman and his wife were brutally axed to death in their home. Their daughter, Lizzie Borden, was the prime suspect. Monday ARTini, 6 p.m., Sol Bistro. Music by Claire Taylor Trio, food, ra silent art auction, hand painted glasses. Proceeds Gallery 510 and the arts in Decatur.

Digital Mobile Social media Print Proudly serving Central Illinois since 1872 601 E. William Decatur, IL, 62523-1142 (217) 429-5151 Delivery issues Newspapers are delivered by 6 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends and holidays. To report a late, missing or damaged newspaper, call (800) 453-2472 before 9 a.m.

on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Redelivery is available in Decatur, Mount Zion and Forsyth. Access your account at Contact the newsroom When you see breaking news, call the Herald Review tipline at (217) 421-6979. Have a story idea, announcement or suggestion? here to help.

Chris Coates, executive editor (217) 421-8905, on Twitter Allison Petty, managing editor of digital (217) 421-6986, on Twitter Scott Perry, managing editor of print (217) 421-7976, on Twitter Justin Conn, sports editor (217)421-7909, on Twitter Place an ad Joel Fletcher, general manager (217) 421-7959 Shawna Lawrence, advertising director (217) 421-6905 More online Start your Herald Review digital subscription at to access photo galleries, videos and the latest breaking news. Download our free smartphone app at for the latest news. Customer service: (800) 453-2472, 6 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays and a.m. weekends and holidays Delivery deadline: 6 a.m.

weekdays and 7 a.m. weekends and holidays I understand that delivery and billing will continue beyond the initial order period unless I contact the Herald Review at (800) 453-2472. Rates may change after introductory offer period. A nonrefundable account set up fee will be charged to all qualifying new starts of $6.99. Subscription rates are subject to change.

Premium publications, including the Thanksgiving day newspaper, and newspapers containing premium sections will be included at a rate of up to $5 each. In addition to Thanksgiving day, there will be up to 20 (twenty) additional premium sections published throughout the calendar year that will be subject to a rate of up to $5 each. These charges will be reflected in your account and may accelerate the expiration date of your subscription. Subscription rates Home delivery: Daily and Sunday $645.28 a year $179.88 a year (billed monthly) All home delivery and mail subscriptions include full access to Prices and frequencies subject to change Postmaster: Send address changes to Herald Review, 601 E. William Decatur, IL, 62523-1142.

Eight-week subscription rate is $73.76 (USPS 15-800). The Herald Review is published daily at 601 E. William St. by Lee Enterprises Central Illinois. Periodicals postage paid at Decatur, Illinois, post office.

See an error in our reporting? We want you to tell us about issues regarding accuracy and fairness. Contact (217) 421-8905 or Past corrections are at herald-review. OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCURACY FRIDAY Pick Three-Midday 3-0-0 Fireball: 8 Pick Three-Evening 2-4-2 Fireball: 5 Pick Four-Midday 7-8-1-2 Fireball: 4 Pick Four-Evening 7-0-5-4 Fireball: 3 Lucky Day Lotto Midday 11-15-18-23-29 Lucky Day Lotto 03-12-16-29-38 Lotto jackpot $12,750,000 Powerball jackpot $90 million Mega Millions 06-23-38-42-58 Mega Ball: 24 Megaplier: 2 Mega Millions jackpot $71 million LOTTERY Awards given to Leon Bryant Bronze Star Medal for heroism Military Merit Medal Gallantry Cross with Palm Purple Heart CLAY JACKSON HERALD REVIEW Second-grader Owen Sy gives his great grandfather and Navy veteran Donald Kahler a hug Friday after a Day assembly at Mount Zion Grade School. SUBMITTED PHOTO Leon Bryant in Vietnam, two months before his death. Drake meets all over Central Illinois, Drake was his biggest fan.

When Bryant was helping lead Argenta-Oreana to a 24-win season in basketball, Drake was his tall, skinny teammate who marveled at how his buddy played to the point of exhaustion. When it became apparent that Bryant was at home as often as his own, family kept a bed ready for him. The two pals ate together, shared secrets together and dreamed together. were pretty much Drake said. On this Veterans Day, Drake will give pause to the great respect now shown to military members who die in action and whose bodies are returned to Central Illinois.

grateful that our communities have come to regard this with such honor, that flags are placed along roadways and that people stand at attention and salute and shed tears when one of the fallen returns home. But never forget that it always done with such care and dignity. He will never shake the memory of the dark, cold November night in 1967 when Leon body was returned to Decatur, how a box car clattered to a halt at the old Wabash Railway station, stopping unceremoniously without a single salute or tearful cry of, It was only Drake and grief-stricken brother, Jimmy, and brother- in-law, the respected horse trainer, Leroy Moyer, along with a worker from the Dawson Wikoff Funeral Home. When the train door was pushed open, a military aide climbed out. He had accompanied the casket on this final leg of its journey, less than two weeks after Bryant had been killed in Binh Chanh, Vietnam, in a barrage of gunfire as he tried to protect members of his company who had wandered into a firefight.

That small group of men unloaded the casket and placed it on a metal cart, where it was wheeled to a hearse and transported to the Dawson Wikoff facility on Wood Street. Fortunately, Bryant was saluted by friends, family and classmates at a funeral service, but all the while Drake knew his dear friend had been treated like so many other Vietnam vets when they returned home. In fact Bryant had it better than many. He was merely overlooked; others were scorned and ostracized. Ironically, much more positive moment occurred while he was training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

It was there when Anita Bryant, the onetime Miss Oklahoma winner and Miss America finalist, showed up to entertain the troops. been collecting military patches and pins and asked for a fatigue coat to display them on. Leon Bryant passed his coat along to her and she was thrilled to see the name stitched to the garment. Anita Bryant wore that coat throughout Vietnam as part of Bob road show. And although Leon Bryant never met the entertainer, Anita Bryant corresponded with his wife, Yvonne, expressing her appreciation and the hope that she would meet Leon during her tour through Vietnam.

Leon Bryant wrote letters, too. Some were to Roger Drake. More were to his wife, including one dated Oct. 21, 1967 24 days before his death that said, I have a few minutes to sit and answer your letters. A lot has happened in the last couple days.

had seven men killed and four wounded in the last two days We were under heavy VC fire for about one your The letter continued, describing an ambush that left six soldiers dead. They were found with heads, arms and legs chopped off. When she learned of Leon death, Anita Bryant expressed her grief in a letter to Yvonne. She was shocked to feel so deeply for a person never met. When he learned of death, Roger Drake, been the best man and Leon and wedding, was inconsolable.

was at home working on my car when brother and his wife showed up and told Drake says of a moment never forget. cried so hard. It was a terrible If you wonder when Drake will get over the death of Leon Bryant, the answer is never. He sometimes wonders what would have become of his best friend had he escaped gunfire in another land. think about what his life could have Drake said.

was happy. He had a good wife. worked at Mueller and I think he would have had a family and become a supervisor there. would have gone to a lot of games and races said Drake, who became a stock car driving champion at Macon Speedway and other tracks. in that one instance, it all went Drake stay awake at night pondering this sad story, although he has pushed for inclusion in the Argenta-Oreana Athletic Hall of Fame.

That seems like a no- brainer for a guy who won the mile run four straight years in the Macon County Track Meet and who won the 880-yard run in three of four years. But if one thing that still tugs at Drake, that dark, cold night in November when Leon body was returned with barely a shred of dignity and without an ounce of honor. If a lasting message on this Veterans Day, that Roger Drake is grateful to see America doing a much better job of respecting its fallen heroes these days. He applauds the way entire communities seem to appreciate their service and are not afraid to be touched by their sacrifice. He only wishes the mood of the country had been more sympathetic back then.

think about that on Tuesday, the 50th anniversary of Leron death. 421-7983 Tupper From A1 down, get to know them. Tell them and take the time to hear their Brewster said. What has become a ritual for the Rotary Club on Day and Memorial Day comes from Dick Cain, an army veteran and longtime Decatur resident. Cain, who says he can recite poetry for the duration of a drive from Decatur to St.

Louis, performed Flanders by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae. The poem from 1915 describes a moment in the experience in Belgium during World War when he visited the grave of his fallen friend. always wondered (after) my uncle came home in a ag-draped casket, what it been like had he lived (a) wife and children that he never had the opportunity to have.

This poem pretty well says Cain said. Irwin Soliday said he was probably the oldest person at the lunch Friday, and in approaching his 100th birthday in February, probably right. Soliday said still a member of the association of the army division he served with in the South during World War II. few of us living Soliday said. had a unit of about 16,000 after the war that formed the association.

Today, under 100. But I still belong to see these other veterans now, they come in wars after me. There was one other World War II veteran I think I saw Soliday said. getting pretty (217) 421-6949 Speaker From A1 plan your weekend taxes and local property taxes. But the final bill may have to closely track a House compromise that provides a property tax deduction of up to $10,000 or else risk a revolt from GOP lawmakers from New York, New Jersey, and California.

The Senate bill preserves popular individual tax breaks for large medical expenses, mortgage interest, electric vehicles and college costs that were targeted by the House. The House limits deductibility of mortgage interest to the first $500,000 of a loan, riling the real estate and housing industries, and eliminates a deduction for medical expenses often taken by families facing crippling nursing home costs. Business Both the House and Senate versions slash the tax rate for corporations to 20 percent from the current 35 percent. But a big twist: The Senate bill delays the rate cut for a year. The delay was put in to reduce the cost by $100 billion or so but opposed by the White House and House Republicans.

Wall Street hates it too. U.S. stock markets sold off Thursday in response to news of the proposed deferral, with industrial and technology stocks leading the decline, before recouping some of the losses by the close of trading. Might the implementation delay be traded for a smaller corporate tax cut, something above 20 percent? Trump actually had been demanding 15 percent and reportedly was initially furious at the 20 percent figure. The issue is setting the corporate rate at a level that experts and tax writers believe would bring the U.S.

closer to its overseas competitors. The electric car industry notably makers Tesla and Chevrolet and producers of wind power for generating electricity are losers under the House bill. The tax credit of up to $7,500 for plug-in electric vehicles would be repealed, and the credit for wind energy would be reduced. But the Senate version retains the incentives. The loss of tax credits for renewable energy would free billions to help pay for the corporate tax cuts in the legislation.

But in addition to environmen- objections, the prospect also angers some Republican senators, including powerful Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who has vowed to defend the credit. a special rate for businesses whose profits are counted in the personal tax returns. Millions of U.S. businesses use this format. The House bill taxes many of them at a maximum 25 percent, down from 39.6 percent currently, and adds a lower minimum rate.

The Senate version would set a new 17.4 percent deduction for income, aimed to help smaller businesses. Tax From A1 recognized for their willingness to serve. A large number of veterans attended the assembly, many in uniform, and the program included several pages of names of veterans with students in the district schools. risked their lives for said eighth-grader Sophia Thomas, who said during the assembly that if she had prepared a 70-page speech, it be enough to adequately thank the veterans. left everything they knew and loved to go and ght for our freedom, so we have to be scared of our future and worry, and just so thankful for tradition, Mount Zion second-graders invite a veteran from their family to the event and learn about Veterans Day in the days lead- ing up to it, said teacher Jessica Peters.

In her class, Quincy Petersen was the youngest of three generations of Petersens, with grandfather Bill and dad Will both attending. The eldest Petersen served in the Marines in Vietnam from January 1965 to December 1968, while father Will served in the Army from 1998 to 2007, including two tours of duty in Iraq. While Will Petersen was in Iraq, the family sent him lots of macaroni and cheese, he said with a chuckle. He loves it, and it available there. Quincy wore his Cub Scout uniform to school Friday, which is part of the observance, Peters said.

Girls and boys in Scouts wear their uniforms, while the other children made T-shirts to wear. Each second-grader took their veteran guest back to their class- room to visit and answer questions about their service. One of questions was about his macaroni and cheese and the other was job did you have before your the direction of RaeAnn DeSut- ter, the Argenta-Oreana middle and high school combined chorus sang an alternate version of Leonard with lyrics written by Sailor Jerri, a YouTube artist who is a Navy veteran: packed your bags and shut the cross the sea in a ght of know just what would happen to in the dirt boots on the ground, and re was the only to yourself you whispered song has been covered by many artists, and De- Sutter said she found this version on YouTube and knew it was perfect for the Veterans Day event. kids love and love to sing she said. a beautiful 421-7982 Sacrifice From A1.