Vets weather tribute in Wheaton

Sunday's frigid winds were much too cold to bear standing in front of the DuPage County Veterans Memorial.

So dozens of spectators who arrived for DuPage County's annual Veterans Day observance ducked into a first-floor space in the DuPage County Convalescent Center.

"We wanted to make sure everyone was honoring our military in comfort," said Tom Mouhelis, a Wheaton alderman who presided over the 90-minute ceremony.

As members of the Chicago Royal Airs Senior Exhibition Drums and Bugle Corps ducked away to catch portions of the Chicago Bears football game, several community members shared their experiences in supporting military troops serving abroad.

"I'm a proud mom of a son who is on his second tour of duty," said Christina Finn, who organizes a volunteer-led project creating pillows etched with the American flag that are distributed to wounded servicemen and women. "I could've gone out of my mind with worry or channel that energy into creating something beautiful."

Deborah Rickert, the son of a West Point graduate serving overseas, similarly channeled her own energy into working with a group dedicated to recognizing the military. The president of Operation Support Our Troops Illinois has worked with Cantigny Park to host fundraising benefits that are used to send care packages to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The operation began in my living room in 2003," Rickert said. "My own awareness was heightened when my own son made the decision to pass up on a traditional college experience."

The names of the DuPage-area soldiers who died this past year will be added to the county's Veterans Memorial, Mouhelis said. And Daniel Finn, commander of the Illinois Department of the Purple Heart, said that his group will increase its donation amount to the Wheaton-based Midwest Shelter For Homeless Veterans, a community group that provides transitional shelter to veterans.

"We've donated $400,000 in the last year to veterans groups," Finn said. "It's important, this week especially, to remember the ... military personnel serving around the world in this country."