Medal of Honor Recipient, Glass Ceiling Shattering Coast Guard Admiral, and U.S. Senator Honor Fallen at Chicago Memorial Day Wreath-laying Ceremony [Image 8 of 36]

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

05.25.2024

Photo by Lt. Col. Bradford Leighton 

Joint Force Headquarters - Illinois National Guard Public Affairs

Spc. Syed Bukhari of the Illinois Army National Guard's 34th Division Sustainment Brigade waits for the ceremony to begin at the Chicago Memorial Day Wreath-Laying Ceremony. The brigade provided the ceremonial rifle volley. Two Illinois Army National Guard retirees; Medal of Honor Recipient Allen Lynch and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, joined Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Memorial Day Grand Marshal Coast Guard Rear Admiral Zeita Merchant, in honoring fallen U.S. service members at the Chicago Memorial Day Wreath-Laying Ceremony on Saturday, May 25, on Daley Plaza in Chicago. Lynch, of Gurnee, earned the Medal of Honor on Dec. 15, 1967 in Vietnam while serving with the U.S. Army's Co. D, 1st Battalion (Airmobile), 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division for incredibly valorous actions saving wounded comrades. After his service in Vietnam, he joined the Illinois National Guard and retired with 21 years of service from the Army National Guard in 1994. Duckworth was severely wounded in Iraq on Nov. 12, 2004, when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade some 50 miles north of Baghdad. She would continue her service in the Illinois Army National Guard and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel retiring in 2014 with 23 years of service. Merchant, who was born in Chicago, attained the rank of rear admiral this year becoming the first African American woman in the 233-year history of the Coast Guard to attain the rank of admiral.

• Date Taken: 05.25.2024
• Date Posted: 05.26.2024 20:26
• Photo ID: 8431426
• VIRIN: 240525-A-OH563-8689
• Resolution: 1349x2537
• Size: 948.43 KB
• Location: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US