Mother of late Army Ranger among CLC Memorial Day speakers
As the mother of an Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan, Wildwood resident Ellen Dimock says she wishes she could change how Memorial Day is viewed by many U.S. citizens.
"To stop calling it happy," Dimock told the crowd during College of Lake County's Memorial Day ceremony Friday in Grayslake. "To ban the urge to shop at all the various sales that flash before them to make it a retail (industry's) black Monday. I know that I cannot, so I will continue to teach, I will continue to tell my story. I will continue to tell Joey's story."
Joey was Joseph Dimock II, who died from injuries he suffered in an ammunition holding facility explosion Salerno, Afghanistan, on July 10, 2010. The 2007 graduate of Warren Township High School in Gurnee was on his second deployment to Afghanistan and had a previous mission to Iraq, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
His mother was among the speakers at CLC's ninth annual Memorial Day ceremony. Typically held in a courtyard overlooking the Grayslake campus' lake, construction forced Friday's ceremony inside an auditorium.
Dimock related how every day has been Memorial Day to her since her son's death. This week was particularly difficult for her family.
"On Wednesday, May 25th, it would have been Joey's 27th birthday," said Dimock, who paused briefly to regain her composure. "There was no celebrating that day. There was no cake. There were no candles. There was no pinch to grow an inch. There were, however, some tears, a silent moment, a remembrance moment, a memorial moment."
CLC police telecommunicator Johnette Van Dien was asked by ceremony organizers to speak about what Memorial Day means to her as a civilian. She said she learned about military sacrifices from her family and by growing up on the edge of Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago.
Van Dien remembered how her mother recognized Memorial Day and how it touched her.
"Each holiday, she would take out the sugar (bowl) and creamer given to her as a wedding present by a young man ... who didn't come home from Vietnam," Van Dien said. "And she cried. And even though I didn't know him, I felt that impact on my life."