Remembering in the suburbs: Find the Memorial Day service near you
As we remember those who have fought and died for us today, here are some sites in the suburbs with memorial displays you can visit.
Lake County
Grayslake: The county's newest veterans memorial, on the campus of the College of Lake County, was dedicated one year ago. Three years in the making, it features the seals of all five branches of the military, three flag poles and about 3,000 engraved bricks honoring servicemen. The Willow Lake Veterans Memorial is located at 19351 W. Washington St.
Lake Zurich: A monument is located off Mohawk Trail, in front of the police station. The names of local veterans have been engraved on plaques and on the brick walk leading to five monoliths, representing the five branches of the military. There also is a freedom pathway.
Lindenhurst: The village's veterans memorial is one of the most elaborate in Northern Illinois, with five granite pillars flanked by reflective pools. The 8-foot pillars are free-standing, the space between them representing the void left by those who have died. Six words are engraved on the surrounding wall: Honor, courage, commitment, valor, sacrifice and patriotism. The memorial is located at the village's municipal center on Sand Lake Road. At 10 a.m. today, a ceremony will be held featuring Gurnee resident Allen Lynch, who received the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest military honor for bravery, for his service in Vietnam.
Cook County
Streamwood: The Streamwood Veterans Memorial, 301 E. Irving Park Road, honors all veterans in all branches of services; plus prisoners of war and those missing in action. Additional markers honor women in the military and war dogs. Read more at streamwood.org/Community/VeteransMemorial.htm.
Maine Cemetery: The Soldiers' Monument, or the Statue of the Civil War soldier, in the Town of Maine Cemetery, at Touhy Avenue and Dee Road, was dedicated Oct. 13, 1901. Graves of Civil War veterans and Spanish-American War veterans are grouped nearby, their markers complete with their units and their "mustered out" dates (and in the case of one vet, the date of his 1864 desertion, carved into stone for eternity).
Barrington: Civil War buffs also will want to see the monument that is the focal point of historic Evergreen Cemetery, 610 Dundee Ave., in Barrington. The monument has several cannons in its design, with a cement marker that reads: "Union Cannon used in Civil War, 1861-1865, captured, spiked, and recaptured at Chickamauga, Sept. 1863." While there, check out the cemetery section set up for veterans' graves after World War I, marked by a pylon. The cannon along the pylon was made by the Japanese in 1911 and used against General Douglas MacArthur's forces in the Philippines where it was captured by the U.S. Army around 1912.
Elk Grove Village: Elk Grove Village has one of the Northwest suburbs' only monuments to servicemen and women lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. James Haire of Fort Collins, Colo., created the statue, "Let Freedom Ring," featuring a 6-foot-tall soldier saluting, with a child on his shoulders and one at his feet. It is dedicated to the four who died: Air Force Capt. James S. Cronin; Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip E. Frank; Marine Cpl. John T. Olson; and Army Spc. Adriana N. Salem. The statue's base is five-sided, for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. It is in the village square at Village Hall, 901 Wellington Ave.
DuPage County
Carol Stream: A new onyx statue honoring four former Carol Stream residents killed during active military duty stands in Memorial Park, on Thunderbird Trail between Seminole Lane and Silver leaf Boulevard.
Glendale Heights: Veterans Memorial Park, Bloomingdale Road and Fullerton Avenue, includes a path woven with historical facts, wartime events and statistics.
Lombard: The Veterans Memorial Rock stands in the Sunken Garden at Lombard Common, Grace Street and Maple Avenue.
Naperville: Among the city's memorials are The Cmdr. Dan Shanower/Sept. 11 Memorial, 400 S. Eagle St.; Veteran's Park, 303 E. Gartner Road; the Burlington Park Doughboy Monument, 350 N. Center St.; the GAR Monument in Naperville Cemetery, 705 S. Washington St.; Veteran's Valor statue at Washington and Van Buren streets and Veterans Plaza, along the Riverwalk on Jackson Ave.
Warrenville: A memorial stone - one of several throughout the city - with a plaque honoring local veterans sits on Stafford Place, near Warrenville City Hall, 3S528 Manning Ave.
West Chicago: The Sailors and Soldiers Memorial is located in Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood Avenue and York Street.
Wheaton: The DuPage County Veterans Memorial is at the County Government Complex, south of the pond across from the Judicial Center, 505 N. County Farm Road. The monument, which was dedicated in 1999, honors local residents killed in action from 1832 to the present.
Wood Dale: An eternal flame burns at the city's Veterans Memorial, on Irving Park Road just east of Wood Dale Road.
Kane County
Carpentersville: The Veterans' Garden at Carpenter Park contains monuments honoring every branch of military service, as well as a monument honoring those who served in World War I. An area in the center of the garden features brick pavers engraved with names of those who have served or are currently serving the country.
Elburn: A decommissioned Army Patton M60-A3 tank is the focal point of the memorial next to village hall on East North Street. It was dedicated in 2002.
Elgin: A veterans memorial, built last year, can be found north of the Gail Borden Library. A doughboy statue to honor those who fought and died in World War I was erected at Elgin's Davidson Park at Villa and Prairie streets by soliciting donations of no more than $5 from Elgin residents.
Geneva: The Wall of Honor at the Veterans Memorial at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., lists Kane County residents who were killed in wars from the Spanish-American War through the present day. And a few blocks away at the Kane County Courthouse is a memorial listing the local men who died while fighting in the Civil War.
McHenry County
Algonquin: The Veterans memorial at the south end of the Algonquin Cemetery.
Cary: The Veterans Memorial inside Veterans Park, First Street and Park Avenue, has flags, cannons and names of veterans. There is also a memorial at Windridge Memorial Park off Rawson Bridge Road just south of Crystal Lake Avenue on Cary's north side of Cary.