Ken Valentine (left) and Dave Sliger of the Marine Corps League salute a wreath honoring the memory of Brig. Gen. Austin C. Shofner. (T-G Photo by David Melson)

"He was a true American hero," said master of ceremonies Fred Duffer of the Brig. Gen. Austin C. Shofner Marine Corps League Detachment 1128, which holds the event each summer. "He epitomized a true Marine."

Shofner spent 11 months in a Japanese prison camp after his unit was forced to surrender in the Philippines.

Dr. Stewart Shofner, son of World War II hero Austin Shofner, tells the crowd at a ceremony honoring his father how the World War II generation fought in hopes that future Americans wouldn't have to endure such suffering. (T-G Photo by David Melson) [Click to enlarge]

He led a group of soldiers comprising all American soldiers in the first successful escape from a Japanese camp. They remained in the Philippines leading Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese before returning to the United States.

The world first learned of the Bataan Death March and the brutal treatment of the Filipino people after American officials were told by Shofner's men.

Shofner eventually returned to the Far East and fought the Japanese further in the later years of World War II, then spent many years as a career Marine.

He came home to Shelbyville after retiring from the Marine Corps and was involved in the loan and banking business until his death.

Dr. Stewart Shofner said his father, and others, in what has been termed "the greatest generation," suffered to protect future Americans.

"We don't want that to ever happen again," Shofner said.

State Sen. Jim Tracy said he got to know Shofner after moving to Shelbyville and had lunch with him several times.

"I'll never forget the advice he gave me," Tracy said. "If you lay with dogs you get beat."

State Rep. Curt Cobb spoke of his father, former Chancellor Ty Cobb's, longtime friendship with Shofner. He remembered Shofner's advice to him as a youth about the importance of education.

The Marine group concluded the ceremony by laying a wreath next to a commemorative plaque placed by the state along North Main Street in front of the Shofner family's loan company.