At a time when most area residents were sleeping in, Chicagoan Ted Kamberos rose at dawn Thursday to begin his 4th of July ritual.
By 8:30 a.m., when Kamberos, his wife, Nora, 6-year-old son and 12 helpers finished their handiwork, 1,500 American flags lined the residential streets of his De Paul neighborhood.
”My parents were Greek immigrants, and they instilled a deep sense of patriotism in me,” said Kamberos, who began distributing the flags five years ago.
From the inner-city to the suburbs, thousands of people across Chicagoland gathered Thursday to celebrate Independence Day.
For many, the day was a good excuse to party with friends and family.
For others, the events of Desert Storm were foremost on their minds.
An afternoon ceremony in Addison honoring Persian Gulf vets brought back recent memories for 21-year-old Tim Peters, a diesel mechanic with the Marines.
”It means a lot more to me this year,” Peters said. ”Now that I`ve been over there and seen how they live, it means a lot to me just to be able to wake up in the morning and not have to worry that war is going to happen.” In Hoffman Estates, hundreds of suburbanites lined up along Hassell Road for a parade that mixed traditional 4th of July festivities with an emotional welcome for Persian Gulf vets.
”You shook hands with the people along the side of the street; you sometimes hugged them,” said medical corpsman Matt McAloon, a Marine reservist whose unit flew to the Persian Gulf on New Year`s Day and returned home in April. ”The parade in Chicago (on May 10) was real stiff, with units from all over, but here you saw people you knew.”
About 15 Hoffman Estates volunteers set up a welcoming committee, Operation Love, and solicited $5,000 in cash and in-kind donations to set up a tent with free food and beverages for military personnel.
Later, the village serenaded about 100 soldiers, sailors and airmen with patriotic songs and showered them with welcome-home speeches.
”We wanted to thank these new veterans and show them that the community cares about them and appreciates them,” said Linda Collins, chairwoman of Operation Love.
Meanwhile, at the McHenry County`s Illinois Railway Museum in Union, about 100 rail buffs labored frantically Thursday morning in preparation for an Independence Day pageant starring 30 antique trolley cars.
But their hard work didn`t translate into glory; an electrical problem short-circuited their parade.
Things went more smoothly in Oak Lawn, where city officials broke a hundred-year tradition.
They held a 4th of July parade.
Parades are not new to the south suburb, said Village Manager Richard O`Neill.
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”But never on July 4th,” O`Neill said. In the past, he said, Oak Lawn residents reserved marching bands and floats for village celebrations such as Roundup Day and Village Fest.
This year, the urgings of President Bush to honor Desert Storm troops inspired officials to break with the past and rustle up an Independence Day celebration, O`Neill said.
In Lake County, Highland Park festivities took on a more traditonal flavor.
Ft. Sheridan`s 4th Army band moved in stiff synchronization, a sharp contrast to the gaggles of Brownies and Girl Scouts straggling behind them.
Jay Koziarz, 6, who rode in a makeshift motorized submarine with his 2-year-old sister, Evangeline, said he loved the attention.
”I wanted to be great in the parade,” he said. ”I wanted people to enjoy me.”
In Villa Park that morning, Will Westphal and his wife, Betty, stretched out in lawn chairs, leisurely enjoying the sights of the village`s annual Independence Day parade.
As World War II veterans marched by, the Elmhurst couple jumped to attention, solemnly placing hand over heart while a version of the national anthem played.
”It`s an important day,” Will Westphal said. ”I think we all feel a very strong sense of patriotism and returning to our heritage. I think the Persian Gulf War brought (Independence Day) very close.”
Later, at Ft. Sheridan in Highwood, military servicemen and women and their families were treated to a 50-gun salute. Twenty-eight units from Ft. Sheridan were sent to the Persian Gulf.
Four cannons blasted as each state and the year they joined the Union were announced.
Lt. Gen. James Hall said the afternoon`s events were ”a tribute to the finest soldiers ever dispatched.”
”We are all soldiers, civilians, workers bonded by a common cause,”
Hall said. ”We`re all part of this fine United States.”