Vets honor the fallen in Cary with hand-built memorial
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Memorial Day remembrances are already underway, but in one northwest suburb, that means an afternoon of teamwork and hard work.
CBS 2's Sara Machi reports on a memorial built in a matter of hours.
It's impressive how quickly something a small team of volunteers can make something like this roadside memorial in Cary take shape. But in some ways, it's decades in the making.
In an open field, working in a short time frame, a team lays down its grid. Sometimes, more than once.
"I wanna get one section done so you can start running names."
It's military precision at its finest, running rebar into soil, erecting 350 flags. Each with the name and hometown of a fallen Illinois service member who they say are, sometimes, overlooked.
"It's nice to have a Vietnam soldier out here helping give it back to the Gulf War guys. I appreciate you," said xxxxx
These are the names of Illinois military who died in combat serving in recent conflicts, from the Gulf War to today. The majority are buried in Washington D.C. so this site gives their families a way to honor their loved ones closer to home.
"It would not be where we are today if we didn't have our soldiers fighting for freedom. And we believe that you know they should not be forgotten for what they did," said organizer Aaron Stain.
Working in the field is Douglas Katz, who served from 1993 to 1998, and got involved after he stumbled upon the site last year.
"I actually got all the way down there, and I turned around and came back," Katz said.
He's one of the volunteers that will now take turns watching over the flags every minute until Monday afternoon.
"Oddly enough, they have said people come by at night. They can kind of connect with their fellow service member. It's nice to do it and when you think about what could happen if nobody's guarding it," Katz said. "It's a pretty small thing to ask."
At 6:00 Friday night. the group will have a name reading ceremony and they'll read the names of the fallen military members every hour until Monday at 5:00 p.m. when there will be a closing ceremony.