The ceremony included re-enactors dressed in military attire from throughout America's history, an actor portraying President Abraham Lincoln reading the Gettysburg Address and several flyovers from World War 2-era airplanes.
Posted on 05/30/2017 6:47:50 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Memorial Day ceremony at Lincoln National Cemetery draws nearly 3,000
Frank Vaisvilas Daily Southtown
Communities across the Chicago area held Memorial Day ceremonies but none may have matched the awe and spectacle of the event at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.
Organizers said the event drew nearly 3,000 people from around the state and the Midwest.
"It was phenomenal," said Lois Duncan, of Crestwood. "I come every year."
Tracey Lingle of Mokena said his father, who was a veteran of World War II, was buried in the cemetery earlier this year.
He said the Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery is best one in the Chicago area and he plans to come back every year.
It was Burlington resident Hank Cooley's first time attending the ceremony at the cemetery.
"It was extremely moving," he said. "And I plan to come back every year."
Several speakers presented the Memorial Day address and one of the most moving was by Iraq War Army veteran Chris Hill.
In 2007 in Baghdad, Hill said, the vehicle he was in while on patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device.
The vehicle flipped over and he and others were trapped inside and came under enemy fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
The ceremony included re-enactors dressed in military attire from throughout America's history, an actor portraying President Abraham Lincoln reading the Gettysburg Address and several flyovers from World War 2-era airplanes.
“Our men and women in uniform have made us safer and more secure, and we were eternally grateful to them, but war and suffering and hardship still remain in too many corners of the globe. And a lot of those men and women who we celebrate on Veterans Day and Memorial Day come back and find that, when it comes to finding a job or getting the kind of care that they need, we’re not always there the way we need to be.”—Obama, 2012
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