The chilly morning temperatures were not enough to deter the dozens who gathered Saturday for Naperville’s annual Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park.
“We look to veterans who fought in the past and are fighting now,” said Col. Harvey Barnum, a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961 to 1989 and delivered the event’s keynote address. “Democracy is not an easy form of government to live under. It makes each of us responsible. We should all be proud to be Americans and show it. You’re showing it by being here today.”
Members of American Legion Naperville Post 43 joined Barnum and about 70 other veterans participating in the ceremony. A crowd about the same size gathered in the parking lot to observe.
“I have family members still serving,” said Vickie Egizio, owner of Orazio Pub in Naperville. “We need to show respect for men who have given their time and love of country, and I wanted my grandson to share in this and learn about the sacrifices given for the freedom he enjoys.”
Nan Romanowitz, of Aurora, who said her father and brother are both veterans, took a picture of her husband, Mark, next to the ceremonial wreath.
“It’s a memory wreath for vets and those who died. Any one of us could’ve died there also,” said Mark Romanowitz, a former lieutenant who spent eight years in the Navy.
Attending Veterans Day observances is “important,” he said. “It’s about us, but not about us. It’s about our nation.”
While dozens in the audience faced the speakers and flags as the ceremony began at 11 a..m., Jeff Jost turned to the right and faced the church across the street because, he said, “on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, you face east. That’s the old tradition. It represents the end of World War I.”
Jost, a former Air Force cook who served from 1964 to 1968, said he wished the tradition would return.
The ceremony did include many other traditions, such as a military gun salute followed by a rendition of taps on the bugle and the national anthem played by the Naperville Municipal Band.
“As we gather here today, we’re at war,” Barnum said. “Thousands are serving in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan. Where do we get these young men and women? We raise them. Young warriors of today carry on in the tradition of those vets.
“They didn’t want war but did what needed to be done. A veteran knows why it was they would risk it all — life itself — for an ideal, a principle. Veterans represent our ties with one another. We must look to the challenge of the future. We will never lose faith or our courage.”
VFW Post 3873 Cmdr. Tom Parker also addressed the crowd and reflected on the “huge, diverse group of individuals with one common thing: a great love of this country and willingness to sacrifice.”
The band concluded the event by playing the “Armed Forces Medley,” as participants rose or stepped forward when they heard the song representing their branch of the service.
The band will perform more patriotic music during another tribute to veterans at 3 p.m. Sunday in Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College.
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Conductor and musical director Ron Keller said the Naperville Municipal Band has spent time preparing “The NC-4 March,” which was inspired by the U.S. Navy’s first trans-Atlantic flight in 1919.
The free concert will also include “Concord,” “Songs from the Great War,” “Flight!,” “Inchon,” selections from “South Pacific,” “Bullets & Bayonets March (Sousa),” “Those in Peril On the Sea (Navy Hymn),” “A Salute the Armed Forces” and “Stars & Stripes Forever,” Keller said.
Dr. Harry Hindson, a former member of the U.S. Navy Band in Washington, D.C., will perform the saxophone solo “A Gershwin Fantasy,” he said. Ann Lord will deliver commentary and history to accompany every selection.
Diane Moca is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.