A soldier who fought in Mexico's historic Battle of Puebla will be honored today in Douglas with a memorial ceremony and the dedication of a headstone commemorating his service to his country. The noon ceremony honoring Lugardo G. Lozano, was organized by the History Club of the Center for Academic Success in Douglas, and will include dignitaries from the United States and Mexico, including the Mexican consul in Douglas, Miguel Escobar, said Robert Silas Griffin, a history teacher and club sponsor. Griffin said Lozano was still a teenager on May 5, 1862, when he and about 2,000 Mexican peasants and farmers clashed with about 6,000 battle-hardened French dragoons, defeating them in a pivotal battle that historians say helped preserve Mexico as a sovereign nation. The victory didn't last long. The French returned to Puebla with nearly 30,000 troops, mounting a siege and eventually capturing Puebla, which allowed them to march into Mexico City. But the first Battle of Puebla had given the Mexican government time to escape, regroup and wage a successful guerrilla campaign that would force the French out of Mexico in 1867. Lozano would serve in the Mexican army for more than 30 years, rising to the rank of captain. He eventually retired to Douglas, where he lived for five years with a son, Rozindo Lozano, who worked as an electrician at the Phelps Dodge copper smelter. He died on May 31, 1922, and his role in an important moment in Mexican history might have been forgotten if Griffin had not run across his obituary in 2002 while researching Arizona Civil War veterans as a University of Arizona graduate student. Griffin said in nearly a decade of researching military grave sites in Arizona and northern Mexico, Lozano is the first documented Cinco de Mayo veteran he has found. "In that sense he is unique," said Griffin. "It was a desperate moment, a crucial moment in the history of Mexico. Their whole future as a sovereign nation depended on it - he was a part of that. The Battle of Puebla was a resounding French defeat." While the Lozano family was very much a part of the community at the time of Lozano's death, Griffin said he has not been able to locate living family members in the community. He said he's hoping the publicity the students' efforts have attracted will lead to someone recognizing him as a member of their family. Diana Mazón, 19, a senior at the Center for Academic Success and leader of the color-guard unit formed for the dedication ceremony, said Lozano deserves to be recognized for his actions as a young man. "He was only 15 when he went to war, and I think that's amazing," she said. "He helped save Mexico; he deserves this honor."