Living Memorial Reminds Us 'Freedom Isn't Free'

It was a July 4th I'll never forget! 

I was up at 5 a.m. getting ready for our Stand and Honor Living Memorial.  My biggest fear was that we wouldn't have enough people to hold the signs I'd made. 

I'd only begun the project two weeks earlier. It was a thought that had come to me, as many of my "bright" ideas do, while I was thinking of a different project.  Suddenly, I'd begun to think that something really special should be done for the Fourth of July.  

For me, what better way to show our patriotism than to to honor the fallen heroes who have fought and died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom to fight global terrorism.  I'm sure the families of those fallen heroes place tremendous significance on this day. 

Illinois has lost many of its finest. Those sacrifices needed to be honored and so they were. Several days prior to the event a gentleman had asked me how many volunteers I had.  When I told him about 95 he seemed genuinely disappointed. I was surprised at that and reminded him that no effort is small; that the smallest of efforts are important. Even if there had been 10 it would have been important.   

In the end about 160 wonderful, caring, patriotic, country-loving individuals showed up to hold the names of the fallen.  The signs contained the name, rank, branch of service, age, hometown, and date of death. It wasn't just a piece of paper that they held; it was so much more.  Each of those signs was a life cut short, a family shattered, because that person stepped up to the plate and did what they thought was right. 

Numerous people wrote down the information from the sign because they wanted to find out more about "their" fallen soldier.  They wanted to contact the soldier's family to tell them that on the Fourth of July, for one hour of their lives, they stood to honor that person's loved one. 

They wanted to tell them that their loved one has not been forgotten and that we grieve with them in their loss.  Reminding these families that they're remembered is so important and that's exactly what this group of people did Monday.

There were families from DesPlaines, Fox Lake, Byron, Montgomery, Oswego, Naperville and Yorkville. Several days before the memorial a family contacted me wanting to hold the names of two Marines their son had served with.  

A few days later another family, who lived many miles away, contacted me also wanting to hold one of those names!  The second family was very close to Lance Cpl. Alec Catherwood of Byron because he was their son's best friend. A group of eight came from Byron to hold his sign.    

Later in the day several people returned asking if they could possibly take the sign they had held. They were so touched by the experience that they wanted to somehow connect to that family. You see, this is my "stone in the pond" theory.  Just one stone thrown into the pond and the ripple effect begins. 

Many people shared their stories with one another as they stood in that line. It was really unbelievable how people connect when they come together for a common cause.

I'm so glad to have been a part of those moments.  It's a feeling that's truly hard to describe, but uplifting comes to mind.  

I only had an idea—a vision—but all of these great people turned it into a phenomenal event!   A special thanks to Denny Prentice at Country Insurance, Home Depot, Oswego Paint and Decorating, Don Burks, Rick Saunders, Sharon Wheeler and Karen and Dean Noggle who donated money, materials, and labor to bring this event about.  One person could never do all this .... it took hundreds. 

Late in the afternoon I had another one of my "ideas" and decided to put luminaria out by the signs.  All I could find was 50 or so green plastic party glasses and half a bag of sand (which had been sitting by my side door for about nine months. I knew it was there for a reason).  

Several hours later, just as the last light was leaving the sky, I was walking through the makeshift graveyard randomly placing them next to  graves.  It was an oddly evocative sight seeing those candlelit signs. 

I'm glad they weren't left alone in the dark, but shone as small, silent beacons for several hours while hundreds of cars passed by for the fireworks display. I hope it gave many pause to think about why we celebrate Independence Day. I pray it reminded them that "freedom isn't free". 

On that note, I have gone out and picked up enough holders and candles to light the memorial the next few nights. You might want to drive by after 8:30 p.m. to see it. The candles will probably only last a few hours. 

I hope I played some small part in making this a memorable Fourth of July for many but, most of all, I hope it helped people begin to think about patriotism and what it really means.   

As always, have an inspired and patriotic week!