Aug 7- Dale Henley, Former President of the Lafayette Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution

You likely first heard his name when studying the American Revolution back in your earliest school days. It is estimated that thirty-six cities and towns across America are named after him, along with a local high school.  He even visited Lexington two hundred years ago, an event that was recently immortalized via a recently unveiled interpretive sign in Gratz Park.

So, who exactly was Gilbert du Motier, better know to us as the Marquis de Lafayette/

To answer that question, Rotarians will today hear from Dale Henley, past President of the Lafayette Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, in Lexington, and a member of the Society, American Friends of LaFayette.

Dale is a French instructor in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Kentucky, and has a special interest in French General Lafayette’s significant participation in America’s War of Independence.

Our speaker is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Ethics Committee and an Ethics Hotline Lawyer. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law and formerly General Counsel for East Kentucky Power where he worked for thirty years. After retirement, he was adjunct faculty at the University of Kentucky College of Law for five years, and earned a Masters degree in French from the University of Louisville in 2010.

Mr. Henley is a Vietnam War veteran (thank you for your service!) and retired Navy Commander. His naval service includes serving as Assistant Naval Attaché in the US Embassy in Rabat, Morocco.

The aforementioned Gratz Park unveiling and related celebration activities were organized by Mr. Henley and included a reenactor portraying the Marquis.  The new sign, which features photos of several items related to Lafayette’s visit, states, “General Lafayette was dedicated to the principles of liberty, equality, and human rights. He was not only a hero of the American Revolution but also a lifelong advocate for abolitionism, religious freedom and women’s equality.”

Rotarians, please give our speaker a warm Rotary welcome! Or, as the Marquis himself might have proffered, bonjour monsieur!