Photo By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Hawkins | FORT SHERIDAN, Ill. - A crowd of hundreds of family members, friends, and retired...... read more read more
Subscribe
Fort Sheridan, Ill. – Hundreds of veterans, family members and retired service members gathered Monday morning for a Memorial Day ceremony to honor those who have sacrificed their lives while serving our country.
The Fort Sheridan Memorial Day ceremony is an annual event held by the 3rd Brigade, 75th Training Division from Highwood, Ill.
Retired Maj. Gen. William D. Razz Waff, the former commanding general of the 99th Regional Support Command from 2010 through 2013, said the annual ceremonies began in 2003.
“I helped reinitiate this ceremony when I was a second group commander of the 1st Brigade, 85th Division. I took command in May 2002,” said Waff. “Then Memorial Day, my daughter and I came here and there were lots of folks wandering around. I thought it would be nice if there was a ceremony, so in 2003, we set up the first ceremony and it’s been running ever since non-stop.”
It began with almost 75 people attending the event to about 350 people today.
James H. Sullivan Jr., who served in the military police in Vietnam, visited his grandmother in the Fort Sheridan cemetery. She died in 1922 during childbirth. He said he attends the Memorial Day service every year.
“It’s about friends of mine on the wall at the Vietnam memorial in Washington, DC,” said Sullivan when describing what Memorial Day means to him. “It’s people like George S. Patton who was stationed here at Fort Sheridan.”
Waff said Memorial Day is about those who have sacrificed their lives wearing the cloth of our nation.
“While it is nice to have picnics, furniture sales and all kinds of other things,” said Waff, “the true meaning of the day is coming together just like we did today, and carving out that time of intentionality while remembering the ultimate sacrifice of those who have gone before us.”
Jack C. Kawkami, a retired flight mechanic from the Air Force, and a Japanese interpreter with the U.S. Army in the Pacific, said Memorial Day means a lot to him because he gets to see veterans and Soldiers who went through Fort Sheridan back in 1944.
“It’s tremendous to see all of my buddies,” said Kawkami.
For Army Reserve Ambassador William T. Bissonette, Memorial Day is a celebration of the life, the service and the sacrifice of our fallen heroes. Army Reserve ambassadors work with community leaders to develop awareness of the Army Reserve and bridge communities across the nation.
“It’s important that we as a nation remember the difference between Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. Veteran’s Day is about their service and Memorial Day is about their sacrifice,” said Bissonette. “Memorial Day here at Fort Sheridan is something that is held near and dear to the hearts of the Veterans of Foreign War, the American Legion, and the local community.”
Many of the ceremony’s attendees were gold star families. Gold star families are surviving spouses, parents and immediate family members of Armed Forces members who were killed in combat operations.
“While we have Memorial Day once a year,” said Waff, “we realize if you are a gold star family, you have Memorial Day every day.”
-30-
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.01.2016 11:20 |
| Story ID: | 199525 |
| Location: | FORT SHERIDAN, ILLINOIS, US |
| Hometown: | MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Sheridan honors fallen veterans, by SSG Carolyn Hawkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
