'This country is worth fighting and dying for': Memorial Day ceremonies, parades return to the suburbs
Some sidelined by the pandemic for two years, dozens of Memorial Day parades, ceremonies, remembrances and other events to honor the nation's fallen returned Monday across the suburbs.
In what organizers called their largest Memorial Day ceremony in Mount Prospect history, hundreds came out to the Veterans Memorial Band Shell at Lions Park to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, including 18 village residents.
The hourlong ceremony, featuring a medley of patriotic songs and placement of wreaths and flowers near a field display of crosses, included remarks from Gov. J.B. Pritzker and a keynote address by Medal of Honor recipient Allen Lynch.
Pritzker recognized Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1337 for being awarded All American status the past three years, and said he came to Mount Prospect to pay his respects alongside those gathered.
“There's no higher calling than the defense of our nation, and no greater honor owed than to those who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty,” Pritzker said. “This day especially calls upon every American to pay homage to these heroes.”
Lynch, who received the nation's highest military honor for heroic actions in Vietnam in 1967, said he wanted to set the record straight: that no one enters the military with the idea of dying.
“We all want to come home. We are willing to serve our country, to serve our community, to put our life and limb at risk. And if necessary, we are willing to be sacrificed,” said the Army veteran from Gurnee. “But folks, they do not sacrifice their lives. We do. We elect to office our presidents, our governors, our elected officials. We do. We the people. And when we elect these people to represent us, we are responsible for their actions. We the people are. We are the ones that are saying we will trust you with the lives of our sons and daughters and first responders. We will trust you to make decisions that make their being sacrificed worth it because this country is worth fighting and dying for.”
About an hour later in nearby Arlington Heights, Gold Star wife Katie Stack addressed a smaller crowd at Memorial Park, telling the story of when she was handed the folded flag that draped over her husband's casket. Marine Lance Cpl. James Stack, a 20-year-old from Arlington Heights, died during combat operations in 2010 in Afghanistan.
“Remember why you get to live in this great and free nation and the great price of that freedom,” said his widow, reading from a guest column that was published in Monday's editions of the Daily Herald. “When gathering with your friends and family to enjoy your picnic or barbecue, take the time to teach your children and others about the true meaning behind this day and to remember our fallen heroes and their families.”
Nearby, Lee Clarbour embraced the Stack family. Her brother, Donald, was killed in action in a different war — Vietnam — but the bond formed by Gold Star families of different eras is especially strong on days like this.
“It's a family, that until you're in that family, you have no clue. And every day is precious. ... It's a bond that nobody really wants, but when we do have it, you got it,” said Clarbour, of Bloomingdale, whose father Ralph was an Arlington Heights mayor and trustee in the 1970s.
The ceremony was preceded by a parade that began at village hall and included 67 groups, 2,000 marchers, and at least 5,000 watching from the sidewalks, organizers said, in what is often regarded as one of the largest of its kind in the suburbs.
Those numbers are down from the last time Arlington Heights hosted the in-person event in 2019 — the parade's centennial — but many marching units promised to be back next year after rebuilding their clubs and organizations, said Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights.
Still, after two years of virtual services, Monday marked a rebirth of the annual event that so many were happy about, Padovani said.
“It's hard to describe the feeling of when you're a veteran and riding in the parade, and people are standing and clapping and yelling, ‘Thank you all,' for a mile and a quarter,” said Padovani, an Army veteran. “And it's not just a few people. It was a lot. It gives us goose bumps. Some of the most grizzled veterans finish with tears in their eyes.”