For many residents, Memorial Day parade in Aurora a longstanding tradition: ‘We come every year'
Lauren Wasulko and her family have a tradition of attending Aurora's Memorial Day parade.
'We come every year and I always did it as a kid,' she said as she and her family awaited the start of the city's Memorial Day parade Monday morning. 'We love Aurora and we love the United States and supporting our local community. We love the marching bands and supporting the local high schools. The kids love coming to the parade and already asked me to pack the candy bags so they can get the candy and wave to the local heroes.'
Beginning at 10 a.m., the parade stepped off at Benton Street and River Street in downtown Aurora where crowds had gathered throughout the morning to enjoy the event.
The parade grand marshal was Arlen Peterson, 89, who has lived in Aurora for more than 60 years and served in Germany as a member of the U.S. Army from 1954-1955.
Jim Cather of Oswego, who is a first cousin of Peterson, stood along River Street as the parade was about to begin and said for him, the holiday is meaningful as 'my dad and all of his brothers were in World War II.'
'Arlen was 11 years younger and he went into the military at 18 and didn't serve in any war but it meant a lot to him to do what his uncles did (serve in the military),' he said.
The parade featured local marching bands, veterans groups and military organizations, the South Shore Drill Team, Lamplighters Barbershop Chorus and more.
Jon Zaghloul, communications manager for the city of Aurora, said the parade continues to be a significant part of residents' celebration of Memorial Day.
'The city of Aurora finds itself doing its best at all times to honor a strong veteran community,' he said. 'That's evident through the multitude of parades and the way we honor them throughout the year. We have Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades as well as multiple events for the Fourth of July.'
Zaghloul said the Memorial Day parade 'is really a two-fold event.'
'Number one, we get the opportunity to honor all of the brave men and women who have served this country and lost their lives to protect our freedom,' he said. 'Secondly, it's a great opportunity to bring people together and have a community gathering and fellowship and really take pride in Aurora.'
Stacy Cather said she 'was lucky to be off work and come and honor the veterans that have passed before us.'
'Today is especially important as we know the man of honor (Arlen Peterson) and the sacrifices he's made and all the friends he's lost,' she said.
Bob Mead of Oswego was part of the Roosevelt Aurora American Legion Post 84 float in the parade and said he served in the Army.
'I always like getting together with my fellow veterans and seeing the crowd,' he said of the parade. 'I look forward to it every year. It's a great day.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
American Legion Post 2 holds annual D-Day remembrance ceremony
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — American Legion Post 2 held its annual D-Day remembrance ceremony Friday, marking the 81 years since Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, a turning point in World War II. The ceremony took place at 10 a.m. along the Peoria Riverfront next to the RiverPlex, where Legion members gathered to honor the bravery and sacrifice of those who took part in the largest amphibious invasion in history. On June 6, 1944, approximately 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified French coastline to confront Nazi Germany. The operation was supported by over 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a critical foothold in continental Europe but at a steep cost. More than 4,700 Allied forces died that, about 2,000 of them being Americans. Gary Hall, the service officer for Post 2, delivered remarks during the ceremony, underscoring the importance of remembering those who served. 'These events right here — like for D-Day — we want people to never forget what a sacrifice, what payment was made in order to keep our freedom. All gave some and some gave all,' Hall said. Notably, no members of the public attended the ceremony this year. Hall expressed disappointment in the turnout but said he understands that many people had work obligations during the morning hours. The event was held at the Military Services Memorial Plaza, continuing a long-standing tradition by Post 2 to honor those who served and to remind future generations of the cost of freedom. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Army's historic horse-drawn funeral tradition returns from two-year hiatus after $28M overhaul
The U.S. Army's Caisson Detachment returned to Arlington National Cemetery this week for the first time in two years. In Section 62, the ceremonial horse unit that transports veterans and service members to their final resting place, escorted the remains of Private Bernard Curran, who was killed in World War II. Curran died in 1942 after being captured by the Japanese. He was buried alongside other prisoners of war in Common Grave 723 in the Philippines. He was brought back home to the United States after his remains were identified by the U.S. military last year. The hallowed grounds of Arlington were decided to be his final resting place. The ceremony marked the return of the Caisson Detachment after a two-year suspension. The program faced a massive overhaul after two horses died within 96-hours of each other due to poor living conditions. Bill Strengthening' Special Relationship' With Uk Military Introduced On D-day The US Army's Caisson platoon is part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, famously responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Caisson horses have pulled the flag-draped coffins of America's war heroes to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery for more than 70 years. This is a military tradition that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who served in an Armored Infantry unit in Iraq, explained dates back hundreds of years. "The Caisson units in the military go back hundreds and hundreds of years, when militaries and armies want to show respect and love for their soldiers, soldiers who have served honorably and the soldiers who died in war," Driscoll said in an exclusive interview with Fox News. Read On The Fox News App The Caisson program was halted in May 2023 while the Army investigated concerns that the horses used to pull the caisson were suffering from dangerous living conditions and neglect. Army Surpasses Fiscal 2025 Recruiting Goal 4 Months Ahead Of Schedule "We had two horses die within four days of each other," Driscoll said. "And so we did a pause to all the operations and the Army took a hard look at what was causing that. What they found is these horses and their care had kind of fallen through the cracks." In February 2022, two Caisson horses, Mickey and Tony, died within 96 hours of each other. Both were euthanized due to poor conditions and feeding. Tony was found to have ingested 44 pounds of gravel and sand while Mickey had a gastrointestinal illness that went untreated. Another two horses died within the year, raising concerns within the Army and denying families this ceremonial tradition. "We hadn't done a particularly good job as an Army in all instances of making sure the training was good and that the horses were taken care of, so we took a pause. It was originally meant to be a 45-day pause that then as the government and sometimes the Army, it stretched on and on," Driscoll said. The Caisson unit was living in stables at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia at the time. A U.S. Army report found that conditions among the aging horses at decrepit stables located at Fort Meyer, that had been built in 1908, were inadequate to house the ceremonial horses. The horses were fed low quality hay, and routinely suffered from parasites from standing in their own excrement. They ate their feed off the ground in mud lots covered in gravel and construction waste, according to the report. Memorial Day: Wild Mustangs Help Veterans Heal Through Wyoming Ranch Program Major General Trevor Bredenkamp, who serves as Commanding General of Joint Task Force National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, took command shortly after the Caisson program was suspended. "We had to rehabilitate many of our horses and what we found is years of underinvestment. They were injured beyond the point where they could still continue the mission, and so we had to retire them, and then we had to procure new horses… we found we lacked a degree of expertise to care for these horses," Bredenkamp said. He oversaw the complete overhaul of the unit. "It wasn't a problem that manifested itself overnight. This was decades of under-investment. We understood that gravel impaction was a significant problem because there was feed that was on the ground. We didn't have the appropriate matting in the stalls and so gravel could easily become mixed in with hay or with ground cover, and so we have raised all of the feed off of the ground, we've got feed bags hanging on the inside of the stalls. We have also put rubber matting on there again to prevent the possibility of gravel being ingested by the horses," Bredenkamp explained. The Army set out to find the best horse trainers in the country. "We brought in these outside experts. We created a plan. We invested $28 million in it over the last two years," Driscoll said. Lt. Col. Jason Crawford is a trained Army veterinarian who has been riding horses his whole life. Crawford was promoted to become the new caisson detachment commander earlier this year. Remains Of Wwii Soldier Killed Nearly 80 Years Ago In France Identified, To Be Reburied At National Cemetery "We've now had civilian trainers on our squads, on each individual squad, as well as within our leadership," Crawford explained. It was dental day when Crawford showed the Fox News crew around the newly renovated stable. "We've been doing dental procedures on all these horses, and we got them on a good routine now, and that's one of the other big changes, is really being persistent about their care," Crawford said. The Caisson unit has to choose their horses carefully. The unit will be doing up to two funerals a day, up 10 per week on the hard pavement of Arlington National Cemetery. "Unlike some of the other smaller breed horses, they're going to be on the concrete and the pavement. So really having strong feet for them to actually move through the cemetery is very vital. The biggest thing we look at is just being tall, wide, and have a good strong back and a solid hindquarters and solid legs," Crawford said. It takes a special horse to complete the mission of escorting America's heroes to their final resting place. "The way I look at anything with the horses, especially at military animals, is they're an extension of us. And it's that extension of what our abilities that we can do. Anything, you know, whether it's a working dog in the battlefield or if it's a horse we're using in Arlington Cemetery," Crawford said. The Army has returned the Caisson unit to its storied role after renovating the stables, and overhauling the care of the caisson horses using the best practices learned from the nation's top equine experts and equestrians. "I would say, though this horse cannot speak, I think it would say that it is living one of the best lives of any horse in our country," Driscoll said. Bredenkamp, who led the overhaul of the unit, explained, "As a 33-year veteran of the United States military, it is a visible reminder of the solemnity of service. When we carry our honored dead to our final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery, it is a visible symbol of American resolve and honor."Original article source: Army's historic horse-drawn funeral tradition returns from two-year hiatus after $28M overhaul
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Savannah man and World War II airman has been accounted for
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Former U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Milton L. Hymes, Jr., 22, of Savannah, Georgia, was accounted for today by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Lt. Hayes was killed during World War II. According to information released by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, in June 1944, Hymes was assigned to the 565th Bombardment Squadron, 389th Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater. On June 20, Hymes, the navigator onboard a B-24J 'Liberator' bomber, went missing in action when his plane crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark after colliding with another B-24 in the same formation. The pilot and co-pilot of Hymes' aircraft were able to bail out and survived, but all evidence points to the rest of the crew being killed in the crash. The U.S. War Department issued a Finding of Death for Hymes on June 21, 1945. In early 1948, the American Graves Registration Command, the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, investigated the crash, but was unable to find any of the missing crewmen. Over the next couple of years, the AGRC also assessed unidentified remains that washed ashore in the area where Hymes' aircraft crashed, but were not able to identify any of the crew. Hymes was declared non-recoverable on May 12, 1950. In 2019, Danish divers alerted the Royal Danish Navy to a WWII-era aircraft wreck in the general area where Hymes' aircraft crashed. A .50 caliber machine gun with a damaged serial number that partially matched the guns on Hymes' aircraft was recovered. In August 2021, after the Royal Danish Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal cleared the site of unexploded ordnance, DPAA partner University of Delaware, along with the Royal Danish Navy, returned to conduct an underwater survey. The survey found possible human remains as well as enough evidence to recommend the site for an archaeological excavation. From Sept. 21, 2022 to June 9, 2024, DPAA primary partner Trident Archäologie, along with Wessex Archaeology and volunteers from Project Recover, and with stakeholders from the Royal Danish Navy and the Langelands Museum, returned to the site to conduct further operations, during which they found further material evidence and possible remains. That evidence was also accessioned into the DPAA laboratory. To identify Hymes' remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA analysis. Hymes' name is recorded on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Hymes will be buried in Thunderbolt, Georgia, on a date yet to be determined. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
