Healing Fields honors service of all veterans
With 2,009 U.S. flags lined in rows that made their way up Rotary Hill in Naperville, the Healing Field of Honor serves as a memorial to men and women who serve or have served in the U.S. military.
On Sunday, the attraction officially opened as hundreds of visitors were given a chance to recognize individuals and family members who might have served by tying a yellow tag to a flag in their honor.
The "Tag-a-Flag" ceremony drew honorees that ranged from those who were injured or died more than 65 years ago during World War II to those who died just last week in the shootings in Fort Hood, Texas.
As visitors enter on the south end, a flag honoring U.S. Army veteran Thomas Buckley greeted them.
Buckley stormed the beaches in World War II on D-Day and was wounded in action.
One row up and four flags down, another flag honored those killed last week. The flag read: "To All Who Perished at Fort Hood, God Bless You."
"The support has been absolutely overwhelming," said Dave Wentz, a former president of the Rotary Exchange Club who helped organize the memorial. "Everyone has a story about a loved one in the military and everyone is dying to tell it."
The flags will remain standing through Saturday, Nov. 14. Proceeds from flag tag sales will benefit Operation Support Our Troops Illinois in the construction of a place for families of patients at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines to stay.
Longtime Naperville resident Carolyn Lauing Finzer honored her father, a World War II veteran who frequently told his story to local schools.
Finzer was moved to tears at the display and said her father, who died in June 2007, would have loved it.
"It's hallowed ground," Finzer said. "During military drills and when they march, they stand tall. Just like these flags are today."
As she walked Rotary Hill and looked at her father's flag standing front-and-center for a Veterans Day ceremony, she said every one of the soldiers honored had much in common.
"They have this deep-rooted feeling of duty and honor for their country," she said. "When you look at the Revolutionary War, Civil War and all others, they're the same in that you hope and pray that it will be the last one."
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