Suburban flag displays commemorate heroes for Memorial Day
Two towns. Two Memorial Day traditions. One goal: To create a sea of red, white and blue to honor those who have sacrificed for their country.
On Thursday, hundreds of elementary and middle school students planted 6,951 small American flags at Veterans Memorial Park in Glendale Heights. Volunteers at Elmhurst's Wilder Park, meanwhile, installed more than 1,600 flags.
"In every town that does this, there are people who realize sacrifices have been made," said John Tautkus, who started Glendale Heights' annual flag display in 2009. "They don't want anybody to forget."
The flags at the corner of Bloomingdale Road and Fullerton Avenue are in remembrance of fallen heroes from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Roughly 800 students from six schools helped create the display.
"It gives them an idea of how many soldiers have sacrificed their lives so we can be free," Village President Linda Jackson said.
The students arrived one class at a time to collect flags they carefully planted in the grass.
Michael Hernandez, a fifth-grader at Americana Intermediate School, said the experience reminded him of all the veterans who have fought for the nation, including his great-grandfather.
"I feel like it represents him fighting for me," the 11-year-old said.
Tautkus said the first display nine years ago had roughly 5,500 flags. Sadly, the number grew to 6,951 this year.
"It's a staggering number," he said. "Every year the number goes up because we have more KIAs from Iraq and Afghanistan."
The flags will be on display until Tuesday. On Monday, the village and Glendale Heights VFW Post 2377 will present a Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, 220 Civic Center Plaza. The event will include a wreath-laying ceremony, several speakers and a rifle salute.
In Elmhurst, True Patriots Care, a group dedicated to recognizing and supporting those who have served as first responders and members of the armed services, wanted to do something special to mark the city's 100th annual Memorial Day Parade.
So dozens of volunteers helped the group install a "Welcome Home Tribute to the Vietnam Veterans" in Wilder Park that has more than 1,600 flags to honor Vietnam POWs and MIAs.
As part of the display, 3-by-5-foot flags are attached to poles in perfect rows and columns. Each flag will have a tag with a person's name and branch of service. They will be in alphabetical order by name.
"You tell someone 1,600 and it's just a number," said Elgin resident Jerry Christopherson, president of True Patriots Care. "It's different when you see that every flag represents somebody that never came home."
Installing the flags in Elmhurst is extra special for Christopherson, who is the building manager at York High School. "It means a lot to so many people," he said.
He said the flags will tie in with 65 white crosses that Elmhurst American Legion T.H.B. Post 187 - with assistance from Elmhurst College students - placed next to the park's Veterans Memorial. The crosses have the names of deceased Elmhurst veterans who served during World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ralph Pechanio, co-chairman of the city's parade committee, said the park is going to be beautiful when the parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. Monday from York Road and Third Street.
The parade will be followed around 11 a.m. with the 26th annual post-parade military ceremony at the Veterans Memorial. It will feature Mayor Steve Morley and other guest speakers, along with the laying of wreaths and a traditional three-round volley.
The flag display, which will be illuminated after dusk, will be open to the public until Tuesday morning.