Dignitaries, military help Rolling Meadows company celebrate “America Day”
Soldiers may be fighting on foreign soil, but global security firm Northrop Grumman Corp. took some time Thursday to recognize the people back home who help equip and protect them.
The state’s largest defense contractor held its 20th annual America Day, an employee appreciation event that also celebrated the nation’s 235th birthday and honored military personnel and their families.
With a Black Hawk helicopter serving as a backdrop, dignitaries including 8th District Congressman Joe Walsh showed their support for the Rolling Meadows company.
Walsh, a Republican from McHenry, credited Northrop Grumman for being at the forefront of the two wars the U.S. is fighting.
“We’re at war abroad with a group of people that want to kill us, that want to kill Americans and destroy our way of life,” Walsh said. “And we’re at war in this country because Americans need to work again.”
Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman employs about 2,500 people in Illinois.
Other speakers to address the massive crowd as it enjoyed a barbecue lunch were Brig. Gen. Keith Lang, chief of staff of the Kansas Air National Guard. He said the work Northrop Grumman is doing in Rolling Meadows is vital to the military’s success.
“When the Army soldier takes his or her rifle and rides the back of a Black Hawk helicopter to a dusty battlefield some 10,000 miles away, you and your products are on board,” Lang said. “You’re going to battle with him.”
America Day is especially meaningful for several employees currently serving such as Steve Michaels, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves who works in continuous improvement.
The 48-year-old Hoffman Estates man was called up in August 2009 and deployed for a year to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was assigned to the International Security Assistance Force command.
Michaels said he’ll likely stay in the Reserves, even knowing he’s bound to be deployed again in a few years, because of the support the company provides him and his wife.
“For me, it’s my duty and I’m proud to do it,” Michael said. “But it helps that so many people here have ties to the military and show their appreciation.”