Naperville church honors members of the armed forces, veterans

It was less a church service than a multimedia-packed tribute to our troops.

Members of Springbrook Community Church in Naperville met Sunday in a special Memorial Day service to pay tribute to its area servicemen and women. A 20-by-30-foot flag draped from the ceiling and images of servicemen playing on the two large video screens at the front of the auditorium space served to reinforce the theme.

"They are reminders of the great cost of freedom," senior pastor Matthew Woodford said. "It's a cost that must not be forgotten. These guardians of our freedom deserve our gratitude."

Service members and veterans from all five military branches were in attendance for the hourlong service, which was punctuated with patriotic songs and reminiscences.

As music from the soundtrack to "Saving Private Ryan" played in the background, Marine Sgt. Matthew Askren urged the congregation to remember military personnel still missing in action.

"We vow as members of this community that you shall not be forgotten," he said.

The Naperville man spent the last four years serving successive tours in Afghanistan and Japan, said Askren's father Doug Askren, himself a Vietnam veteran and member of the Patriot Guard Riders.

"I love this time of year because it tends to focus peoples' minds," Doug Askren said. "We all invited everyone we knew here today. We were at the Memorial Day parade in Chicago yesterday, and we're traveling to a cemetery tomorrow, so it's going to be a long weekend."

Mitch Atkinson manned a table filled with photos of military personnel in the rear of the church. He used Sunday's service as a chance to find more people willing to support a lobbying effort the Naperville man is helping spearhead for a memorial to be built for the veterans involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"I was touched by all the comrades my community lost over the last few years," Atkinson said. "I don't want to forget what they did for us."