Elgin set to dedicate memorial park
Elgin's $750,000 veterans' memorial park to be dedicated on Tuesday, Nov. 11 is by far the grandest attempt to honor all veterans from the city.
But, by no means is it the first such tribute.
Scattered throughout the community are other various plaques and monuments erected in honor of veterans of earlier times.
While it's difficult to know how many men might have served during the "Indian wars" which waged at various times at locations throughout the 19th century, county histories record that Elgin men were part of a group of Kane County soldiers who saw service in the Mexican-American War of the 1840s. No permanent memorial was ever erected by the fledgling community - then officially a "village" of about 2,000 inhabitants which was just coming into existence.
Such was not the case with the Civil War which engulfed the nation for the first half of the 1860s and took the lives of a half million countrymen. A decade after war's end, a 27 foot tall spire engraved with the names of more than 60 area men who lost their lives was dedicated at Elgin Cemetery, now the site of Channing Memorial School. In the early 1920s, the large monument was moved to Bluff City where it serves as the focal point of the community's annual Memorial Day observance.
A half a century after the end of the Civil War, the Elgin Academy also erected a tribute to students and staff from the school who has served in the war. Dedicated in 1909 and highlighted by two Civil War "Napoleon" cannons, the recently refurbished memorial now exists as part of the artifact garden of the Elgin Area Historical Society.
By the end of the century, the United States was at war again - this time with Spain. The short lived conflict claimed the lives of nine Elginites who would later have their names inscribed on a plaque at the Gail Borden Public Library - then located on Spring Street near Highland Avenue. The plaque later made its way to the Elgin Area Historical Society Museum and plans call for it to be incorporated into the new veterans' memorial.
In 1917 Elgin men and women marched off to join the "Great War" or World War I - a global conflict involving dozens of nations. The war eventually claimed more than 50 area lives. To honor their hometown heroes, Elgin citizens raised more than $2,500 in donations for a "Doughboy" statue which was placed in Davidson Park near the intersection of Villa and Prairie streets.
World War veterans from Elgin High School as well as employees from the Elgin National Watch Company were honored with plaques hung at those institutions. The Elgin High School plaque later made its way to the commons of the current building, while the watch factory plaque became part of the collection of the Elgin Area Historical Society Museum.
By far the greatest loss of lives occurred during World War II - both worldwide and locally. Over 100 died in the conflict which spanned from 1941 to 1945, according to Gordon Schulle, who served in the Marines on Iwo Jima and who has done an exhaustive search of World War II veterans. Elgin newspapers reported that discussions were going on about the erection a World War II memorial near the end of the war, though plans never materialized.
In the early 1950s Elginites marched off to join the Korean War, a conflict that would eventually claim a dozen Elgin lives according to by Sara Sabo at the Gail Borden Public Library. A decade later local citizens did their part for their country by fighting in the Vietnam War, a conflict that would claim nine local lives. Neither conflict saw area permanent tribute erected to honor those who served.
Throughout the city's history, Elgin men and Women served during peacetime safeguarding our liberties at post around the world. They have also answered the call during Grenada, the Gulf War, and the Global War on Terrorism.
Besides these memorials related to specific conflicts, there is a plaque near the former Grand Army of the Republic building on Fulton Street honoring those who were part of that union veteran's organization. At Bluff City Cemetery, an anchor from the U.S.S. Aaron Ward - a ship that was hit by a kamikaze pilot on which a South Elgin man was killed - rests in the soldiers' reserve section.
Elgin Area School District U-46's Memorial Stadium on East Chicago Street is dedicated to area service personnel while a large replica of the Combat Infantry badge designed by Elgin artist Trygve Rovelstad sits near the Appellate Court building. Nearby on Walton Island an American Flag sculpture by the Outdoor Exhibition Group - a successor to one dedicated on Veterans Day in 1936 by Rovelstad - sits prominently at the north end of the island.
The Combat Infantry badge is being moved to the new veterans' memorial. The memorial will also become the new home for the watch factory plaque, the high school plaque, and the Spanish American war plaque. The other veterans' tributes will remain in place at their various locales as they have for years reminding us of the numerous sacrifices of Elgin veterans in protecting our nation's freedoms.