Streamwood Memorial Day ceremony a reminder of cost of freedom
The empty table was set for five.
Each chair was reserved for a POW/MIA from each of the five branches of service - Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard.
Each item on the small table was symbolic - the slice of lemon on the bread plate to remind us of their bitter fate, the salt on the plates expressing their families' tears, the inverted glasses marking their absence.
The table ceremony reminded visitors to Streamwood's Veterans Memorial not only of the cost of freedom, but also of the power of symbols.
Veterans and their families gathered on a hot Sunday morning to drink a powerful potion of patriotic feeling. The Spring Valley Concert Band played the anthems of the branches of service as their flags were raised. Tears were shed as the Medinah Highlanders piped "Amazing Grace" on their bagpipes in honor of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
The celebration concluded with a moment of silence as wreaths were placed on the memorial's service monoliths, a 21-gun salute from the VFW Post 5151 rifle team and the playing of taps.
Village President Billie Roth read a Memorial Day speech by Supreme Court Justice and Civil War veteran Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in remembrance of fallen comrades.
When she finished, she said, "Today is for all of the William Putnams, Charles Cabots and James Lowells (Holmes' comrades), who fell in the service of their nation, and to you who knew them, counted on them, respected them and are proud to have served with them. For it is through you that they will always be with us."
Retired Army First Sgt. Richard D. Winterfeld, Jr. of Streamwood, the keynote speaker who served in Afghanistan, urged the audience to respect the flag and those who paid the ultimate price.
"Let us not forget. These men and women gave their tomorrows for our todays," he said.
Winterfeld's son, Sgt. First Class Richard III, who also served in Afghanistan, participated in the flag raising ceremony.
Among those watching the ceremony was Streamwood resident Richard Hoppel, who served in the Army in Korea as a teenager after growing up in Nicktown, Pennsylvania. He remembers spending many nights in the DMZ, which at the time was a couple of tents, foxholes, bushes and a big heavy chain link fence.
"I just had my buddy who was with me all that time and from Pennsylvania just pass two weeks ago. This sort of hits home."
Another veteran of Korea, Anthony Divito of Schaumburg, was there with wife Bernedette and son Anthony.
Divito was wounded and received a Purple Heart.
His son said, "It's one of the most sacred holidays I think we have. I never served but I have such respect for the men and women. We don't do enough for these people."