http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-vets11.html
Saluting those who gave their youth, health, lives
BY KATE N. GROSSMAN STAFF REPORTER
On a serene overlook in one of the city's oldest cemeteries Sunday, Retired Major Ned Ricks had a simple message to impart on the eve of Veterans Day 2002.
"Veterans aren't just those who gave their lives," Ricks told a crowd of about 125 people gathered by a small lake at Rosehill Cemetery on the Far North Side. "There are also those who made living sacrifices--their youth and sometimes their health."
"Let's hear your thanks now," the decorated U.S. Army Reserve major said. "All too soon they won't be here to hear it."
It was a message that resonated with the crowd, a mix of veterans, family and locals, including U.S. Rep.-elect Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) and his two young children.
"This gives me the chills," said Louis Nathan, a 69-year-old Korean War veteran. "Just seeing all these people saluting veterans makes you feel good."
Added World War II veteran Walter Babicz, 75: "It's important to show your respect and remember it even more now with Sept. 11."
The call to honor veterans was particularly meaningful, several said, as the United States moves ever closer to a war with Iraq.
"People need to acknowledge that there will be more veterans," said Daniel Wenserski, a World War II veteran and commander of Amvets Post No. 243, which helped organize the memorial.
"I hope it happens soon so people can come home already. There are already enough graves around here," he said motioning to the 200,000 grave sites at Rosehill, including veterans of nearly every war. Among those buried at Rosehill are about 200 Civil War veterans, including a dozen generals and five Medal of Honor recipients.
The ceremony, which began with a procession along a road lined with flapping American flags, left out no pomp and circumstance.
The crowd was treated to a salute by Lane Tech High School's honor guard, the playing of Amazing Grace by the Emerald Society Bagpipers, taps by bugler R.J. Samp and the singing of the national anthem. It wrapped up with a musket volley and a cannon salute by a Civil War re-enactment group.
"In 1918, on the 11th day of the 11th month, an armistice was signed ending World War I," World War II veteran Emil George Giese told the crowd, explaining the history of Veterans Day. "I remember as a boy everyone was to stop, face east toward Europe and remember those that fought in the war--the war that was supposed to be a war to end all wars."
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Veterans Day, 2002, Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago
http://photos.innersource.com/page/142/423
[ 17. November 2002, 02:20 AM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]