Local History: Recording the Fallen
When entering the University of Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum, visitors will immediately notice the twenty-four large plaques that line the ramps to the second level. When first installed, on these plaques were written the names of more than nine thousand Kentucky soldiers who died in World War II; in Lexington alone, 206 soldiers did not come home. The list was later expanded to include Kentucky soldiers who died in Korea and Vietnam. The names are grouped by the county they were from.
The names were written by hand -- they were not created by stencil, machine generated, or printed from typeset. Each name was flawlessly written in beautiful lettering with a nib pen that was dipped in India ink. If there was a single errant drip, smudge, or letter that was the slightest bit imperfect, it would require starting over with that panel. There are roughly four hundred names per panel, with 9,945 names listed from World War II.
Professor John Horine created the panels. His hobby was lettering, he had previously written the names of the 2,809 Kentuckians who had died in World War I on panels placed in the University of Kentucky's Memorial Hall, and he was well known for his unique talent and tenacious work ethic. He was asked by the university to take on the task of lettering the panels for Memorial Coliseum. It would be the signature statement of the coliseum -- the names of every Kentucky soldier who perished in World War II – so that all who entered the coliseum would walk past the seemingly endless lists of names and reflect upon the ultimate sacrifices made by so many in order that they would remain free.
From September 1949 to March 1950, Professor Horine worked 3-4 hours per day to complete this task. The type of font used in the lettering was his own creation. His younger son, Wallace Horine, said that he was exceedingly meticulous, gifted at drawing, and thus was the perfect soul to take on an assignment that had to be done without a single error.
The carnage and losses of the war were experienced directly by Professor Horine – his first son, also named John, enlisted in the Air Force, rose to the rank of corporal, and died when his plane was lost over the Adriatic Sea. He was twenty years old. His body along with other crew members were never recovered. As such, Professor Horine also inscribed the name of his son on the panels honoring Kentucky fallen soldiers. His son Wallace said that he did it with no greater care and precision than he did with all of the others – “They all were some mother and father's child.”
A dedication ceremony for Memorial Coliseum was to be held on May 30, 1950. Letters were sent to family members of the fallen by UK President Herman L. Donavan that read: “The Memorial Coliseum will be dedicated Decoration Day, May 30. It is right and fitting that you should have the place of honor on this occasion. It is our sincere desire that every Kentuckian who died in the service be represented on this occasion by one or more members of his family, or by an intimate friend. This Memorial Coliseum is the expression of a grateful people. On the walls are inscribed in permanent form the names of 9,265 Kentuckians known to have died while serving in some branch of the armed forces. This building thus made sacred will stand through the ages as a witness to our solemn pledge to keep faith with the boys that the peace of the world and the rights of man be preserved.”
Over 12,000 people attended the ceremony, which was the coliseum's maximum capacity. Over 5,000 attendees were “Gold Star family members” – the mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, and children of those who died as the result of military service. The Lexington Herald reported that when the next of kin of those fallen entered the coliseum, “they looked like all the others,” but they would invariably “stop and search the names on the plaques, and once the name they wanted was found, they looked at it in silence.” The article went on to report that the “whole program was impressive, but it was a moment of silent meditation – and taps – that left few dry eyes” (Lexington Herald, 5-31-1950, p.1).
(This piece was published in the Lexington Herald-Leader. April 1, 2022.)