Memorial Day 2018: Palos Heights, Illinois' Veterans Memorial

Yesterday I was in my hometown of Palos Heights, Illinois where I paid my respects to the city's Veterans Memorial. I remember when it was first built, the initial incarnation, funded by a Harlem Avenue restaurateur, was dedicated to the eight might who perished in an aborted mission in the spring of 1980 to rescue our hostages held by Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran.

The memorial was expanded to mark the members of our military who made the ultimate sacrifice in every conflict from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam.

The two Palos Heights soldiers who perished in that last conflict, 2nd Lieutenant Fred Andrew Hartman Jr and Lance Corporal Mark Steven Anderson, are memorialized. Both men were killed in action in the spring of 1969.

All gave some and some gave all.