and welcome to the city of chicago's memorial day parade and reef lane ceremony i'm kevin barces
and i have the honor of serving as director for the mayor's office of veteran affairs
on behalf of mayor brandon johnson and the city of chicago thank you all for joining us today
as we honor and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation
It is now my pleasure to introduce our emcee, retired Master Sergeant Adam Shaw, U.S. Navy.
U.S. Army, excuse me.
That's okay. I accept that. That's okay.
We're okay. We're okay.
Hey, thank you, Kevin, and thank you for all you've done for the city of Chicago.
To begin the program, may I ask everyone to rise as the Rickover Naval Academy High School Joint Service Color Guard
presents the colors and remains standing for the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Please welcome for the singing of our National Anthem, Major Retired U.S. Army D. Love.
Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
The broad stripes and bright stars, the perilous fight.
O'er the ray watched were so gallantly streaming?
Who say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
To recite the Pledge of Allegiance, please welcome Chicago Public Schools City Corps staff, JROTC.
Thank you for presenting the colors, Rickover Naval Academy JROTC Color Guard.
Please be seated.
I would now like to invite Major Jeffrey Nelson, Chaplain, Illinois Army National Guard, for the invocation.
Let us pray.
almighty god we gather today to honor and remember the brave men and women who gave their lives in
service to our nation as we lay this wreath may it stand as a symbol of our deep gratitude
and uh and enduring respect we just want to lift up all the families of the fallen whose sorrow
we just cannot fully know but whose sacrifice we truly deeply honor this day may the ceremony
renew in us a spirit of unity sacrifice and hope bless this ceremony those gathered here and the
sacred memory of the heroes we honor today in your holy name we pray amen thank you chaplain
at this time i'd like to acknowledge our other special guests seated on stage who we are honored
to have with us here today the honorable brandon johnson mayor city of chicago the honorable dick
Durbin, Senator of the State of Illinois, Klinay Hedspeth, Commissioner, Department of Cultural
Affairs and Special Events, Major Retired U.S. Army D. Love, Jimena Torres, Cadet of the Year,
Andy Hara, Cadet of the Year, Jean Harris, Northern Illinois Survivor Outreach Services,
James Terry Blue, Sr., United States Marine Corps Veteran, Lieutenant Colonel Maria Elizabeth
Sanchez, United States Army, Dr. Tyrese Sims, Executive Director, CPS Department of JROTC,
Jory Phillips of Lyons Township High School, Anna Valencia, City Clerk of Chicago, Melissa
Conyers Irvin, City Treasurer, and Maria Pappas, the Cook County Treasurer. As I announce the
following individuals, I'd like to ask that members of the audience also please stand if you have
served or are currently serving in that branch of service. Representing the American Merchant Marine
Veterans, Joseph O'Connor, retired Merchant Mariner. United States Coast Guard, Commander Timothy Tillman.
Representing the United States Space Force, Cadet Joseph F. Ferrari.
Representing the United States Air Force, 2nd Lieutenant Sage M. Corti.
Representing the United States Navy, 34th Ward Alderman, Lieutenant Bill Conway, Commander.
Representing the United States Marine Corps, Major Brandon Koontz, Commanding Officer, Recruiting Station Chicago.
and representing the united states army the 2025 grand marshal for the city of chicago
major general william j walker retired and representing the pow mia the chair represents
the spirit of all who have served and those currently serving the uniform service of the
united states and cannot be with us here today we're compelled to never forget while we go about
our daily pleasures. There are others who have endured and may still be enduring the agonies of
pain, deprivation, and internment. Thank you all for your service and please be seated. At this
time, I would like to thank the 484th Army Band for their performance as they have to head to the
parade.
Now it is my great pleasure to introduce the next portion of our program, honoring our JROTC Cadets of the Year.
The Cadets of the Year will each receive a $250 award generously provided by the Chicago Police, Marines, Group of Veterans, and First Responders.
The mission of JROTC is to motivate young people to be better citizens.
Chicago has the largest ERTC program in the nation,
with 45 programs in middle school, high schools, and public school military academies across the city.
I would like to invite Mayor Brandon Johnson, Major General William J. Walker,
and Senator Dick Durbin to join me as we acknowledge the outstanding contributions of our cadets
to their community by honoring two students with the Cadet of the Year Award.
Our first Cadet of the Year is Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Jimena Torres, Farragut Career Academy.
Cadet Torres has been chosen to hold a dual leadership role within the JROTC as the battalion commander and color guard commander.
Torres is also very active in her school community, serving as co-chair of the Student Voice Committee, NHS representative, and a Little Village Council member.
Torres was accepted into the extremely competitive and prestigious Cornell University on a full-ride Posse Scholarship.
Congratulations, Cadet Torres.
Our second Cadet of the Year is Cadet Captain Andy Jara, Marine Leadership Academy.
Cadet Jara has received a number of awards and special recognitions for his academic work,
including being introduced into the National Honor Society and is the salutatorian for his class.
Cadet Hara is also a member of the Color Guard, Archery Team Captain, and the 2024 Junior Leadership Academy Bowl Captain.
He received the Presidential Scholarship for $124,000, plus a full ride by the Illinois Institute of Technology,
where he will pursue a career in architecture.
Congratulations, Cadet Harra.
Please give a hand for our outstanding Gero to see Cadets of the Year.
I would like to welcome Kevin Barses back to the podium for a special presentation.
Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago, Proclamation.
Whereas, the City of Chicago proudly honors Lieutenant Colonel Maria Elizabeth Sanchez
for her distinguished military career, leadership, and service to both the nation and our city.
Whereas, LTC Sanchez most recently served as commander of the 6th Battalion and Chicago MEPS.
Whereas, over her career, she served in key leadership roles, both in the U.S. and abroad,
earning multiple honors, including the Bronze Star.
Whereas, LTC Sanchez's service has made a lasting impact on the U.S. Armed Forces, the nation, and the City of Chicago.
Now, on behalf of the City of Chicago and Mayor Brandon Johnson,
we hereby recognize Lieutenant Colonel Maria Elizabeth Sanchez on her retirement.
Thank you, Kevin.
And now it is my honor to introduce Senator Dick Durbin.
Senator Durbin is the 47th U.S. Senator from the state of the state.
of Illinois, the state's senior senator and the longest-serving, popularly-elected senator
from Illinois. Durbin also serves as the Senate Democratic Whip, the second-highest-ranking
position among Senate Democrats. Durbin has been elected to this leadership post by his
Democratic colleagues every two years since 2005 and is the longest-serving whip for either
Party. Senator Durbin served as the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 117th and 118th
Congresses. During his time as chair, the committee held 145 full committee hearings, 88 subcommittee
hearings, and 86 executive business meetings, advanced 373 executive and judicial nominees
out of the committee, and reported 56 bills out of the committee. The Senate also confirmed a
record 235 judges, including Associate Justice Ketanje Brown Jackson. Senator Durbin has given
more than half of his life to House and Senate Congressional Service and is a staunch supporter
of veterans and the military. Senator Durbin, I want to thank you on behalf of everyone
who you have helped during your extended tenure for all that you have done for us in the state
of Illinois. It is now my distinct pleasure to welcome up
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Master Sergeant Adam Shaw, for
those kind words. And thank you, Sergeant Shaw, and all those
who have served and are joining us today for your service to our country.
It is an honor to join Mayor Johnson. It was an honor
to be with him this morning at the Gold Star family's breakfast. I thank him
for sponsoring that event. I'd like to take a moment to recognize
General Walker. General Walker's service to our country spans decades. From Washington, D.C. to
Kabul, defending our cities and protecting the Capitol building, protecting the lives of members
of Congress during the insurrection of January 6th, we owe you a debt of gratitude, and we take
great pride in recognizing your deep Chicago roots. Thank you very much, General. Monday is Memorial
Day, the day we remember and honor the more than one million Americans who have given
their lives in military service. It is time for reflection for us to consider the enormity
of their sacrifice. Today we honor them and the loved ones they have left behind. Today
is especially important here in the state of Illinois because one of America's first
Memorial Day ceremonies occurred in our state. Many of you know this. Today's award is named
after General John Logan, an Illinoisans from southern Illinois, a Civil War hero and a proud
son of our state. In 1867, two years after the bloody Civil War, General Logan was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Great Army of the Republic. One of his first acts as Commander-in-Chief
was to call for a National Day of Remembrance to honor the soldiers who sacrificed their lives
so that America could receive a new birth of freedom.
This morning we have the privilege of honoring these three esteemed award winners
who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
The Major General John Logan Patriot Award recognizes individuals for their dedication,
patriotism, and selfless devotion to Chicago's citizens, veterans, and our nation's military.
This year's recipient, James Terry Blue Sr., affectionately known as Blue,
graduated from Marshall High School in 1966.
Soon after he decided to answer the call to serve his country,
he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at the height of the Vietnam War.
Blue dedicated his service of 30 years to public safety,
later became a veteran service officer with the African-American PTSD Association,
truly cementing his legacy of public service with two more decades of working for others.
He has helped the lives of so many service members,
assisting them in reclaiming to civilian life and guiding them and their families
through the complex laws of our country when it comes to veterans.
Thank you, Blue, for your commitment to your fellow American heroes.
While we honor Blue for his years, we also recognize the leaders of tomorrow.
The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps mission is to help high school students
develop the skills they need for their responsibilities.
You heard Sergeant Shaw talk about the number of years that I've served in the Congress and in the Senate.
I take special pride in working with every single mayor of the city of Chicago during my tenure
to make us the largest junior ROTC program in the nation.
This year we recognize two outstanding cadets.
Congratulations to cadets Jimena Torres and Andy Jara.
I don't recall being so accomplished when I was in high school, but these two young people are amazing.
I wish you all the best as you prepare to go to these great colleges, Carnell University and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Today, as we reflect on how we can honor those who sacrifice for our country,
I'm grateful that we're all together to pay tribute to the fallen and their families.
May God bless those who continue to serve each day,
knowing the cost and the family's support that they need along the way.
And may we remember always that today must be a meaningful Memorial Day
for the good of our country and the future of our nation.
Thank you very much.
And now it's my distinct pleasure to introduce the Mayor of the City of Chicago, Brandon Johnson.
Thank you, Sergeant Adam Shaw, for that introduction, and good morning, everyone.
It is an honor to carry on our city's Memorial Day traditions with you all, particularly at a time in which our nation is in desperate need of peace and solidarity.
Together, we take a collective pause and remember those who have sacrificed their lives so that we can live in freedom.
In a city as dynamic and as diverse as Chicago, let us recognize our freedom to live in inclusive, vibrant, and loving communities.
And let us never take that for granted.
Our freedoms were hard fought for and won by the brave men and women who serve in all branches of the armed forces at home and abroad.
I'm grateful that there are elected leaders that are joining me today on the dais,
But there are a few Alders that I've recognized in the audience, Alders Sancho Lopez, David Moore, and Raymond Lopez.
Please give them a round of applause.
Thank you to all of the brave men and women who have gone above and beyond their commitment to our nation,
serving with professionalism, courage, and selflessness.
Our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who serve, who deserve our unending gratitude.
A debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.
But we can promise to remember them.
Hold them close and dear to our hearts.
They have gone on but never truly forgotten.
We say their names and we cherish their memories.
Chicago remembers our fallen heroes by etching their names into memorial walls around our city, the Riverwalk, and Soldier Field.
We remember them in our ceremonies like the one that we held recently.
We uphold Chicago as a Purple Heart City.
On Wednesday, the city of Chicago officially recognized our designation as a Purple Heart City
with the installation of two signs, one in front of City Hall and another at the historic site of Old Fort Dearborn.
I was honored to join veterans and families in that dedication
and pledge to continue building a city where veterans are seen, supported, and honored for their service.
I'm especially grateful to the Mayor's Office, Director of Veteran Affairs, Mr. Kevin Barsayes.
He leads our efforts to ensure that the City of Chicago thanks our veterans,
not just with words, but with actions.
I am grateful that Director of Marseilles and our city departments
who welcome veterans home to civilian life with supports for housing,
employment, mental health, and so much more.
Chicago continues to remember our veterans and fallen heroes today
by gathering to express our profound appreciation.
Even as we grieve, we grieve in our pride and our appreciation for their sacrifice.
On this day, I want to especially acknowledge our Gold Star families who carry the weight of their loved ones every single day.
As a city, let us continue to keep them close to our hearts and let's pray for them.
them. I hope that today we can bring a little more comfort in the knowledge that the service
that has been provided by your loved ones, that we will always honor them and remember them.
I would also like to recognize this year's Memorial Day honorees who carry on the legacy
of bravery, particularly bravery in a time in which we need it. And they carry that with them
each and every day,
particularly in honor of those who have come before them.
I do want to congratulate again
our JORTC students
who received the Cadet of the Year Awards,
Lieutenant Hamina Torres from Farragut Career Academy
and Captain Andy Jarrah from Marine Leadership Academy.
They are two bright examples of the soul of Chicago.
I'm thrilled to see these young people leading in the way in which our ancestors dreamed of.
They embody the values of service.
You are undoubtedly an inspiration to your peers, families, and communities.
Thank you for your commitment, your commitment to serve our city and our people.
And let us also acknowledge and applaud this year's Major General John A. Logan Patriot Award recipient,
James Terry Blue, Senior, United States Marine Corps and Vietnam Veteran.
Congratulations, this is a well-deserved recognition and thank you again for your service.
And finally, I'm honored to introduce the Memorial Day Grand Marshal, Major General William J. Walker,
a Chicago native, a U.S. Army veteran, and a Southsider.
His military and public service career spans more than 30 years, and his service is history-making, as the 38th Sergeant-at-Arms of the United States House of Representatives and the first African American to hold that role.
General Walker served as chairman of the National Guard Bureau Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program
so that others had the opportunity to succeed and excel in their service to our nation just as he did.
And as the 23rd Commanding General of the District of Columbia National Guard,
it was he who led the National Guard's response to the January 6th insurrection
and coordinated the National Guard's support for Secret Service for the 59th Presidential Inauguration and other large demonstrations.
Thank you, Major General Walker, for your service and commitment to our beloved nation.
May we be inspired by you. May our award honorees be inspired by you.
our J-O-R-T-C cadets, to be brave and loyal and resilient as we work to build a more perfect union.
Chicago, please help me welcome Chicago's very own, our fellow brother, Major General Walker.
Well, how do you top that?
Thank you, Mayor Johnson, Senator Durbin, distinguished guest.
It's really an honor to be with you, fellow veterans, Gold Star families, and citizens of this great city.
It's a solemn day in our heart for this beloved city.
I am truly, deeply honored to be here with you, not just as a retired U.S. Army Major General,
not as the former Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, but a son of Chicago.
I grew up on the south side, as the mayor said, shaped by the lessons of St. Sabina Catholic Grammar School, led by Father Mike right now.
Incredible, incredible leadership.
And then shaped by Leo Catholic High School, where I learned and incorporated facta non verba.
Deeds, action, not words.
Get it done.
I learned that at Leo Catholic College Prep.
So very, very honored to be here.
And from Leo, because of the discipline I learned at Leo,
I was in and out of the University of Illinois right here in Chicago in less than four years
and then received my master's degree at Chicago State where I took our OTC.
So this city has been everything to me, and I work hard to try to give it back.
those lessons with me every single day. So together we gather today for a purpose both
sacred and enduring, to remember those who gave the last measure of devotion to a country they
love more than life itself. We gather to mourn, but not to be consumed by mourning. We gather to
honor, but not to leave honor buried with our fallen. Mourning, as every gold star family knows
well is not a chapter that ever closes it is a thread that winds through us every day it is the
empty seat at the holiday table is the echo of a voice once so familiar now held in memory sacred
sacred vault but if morning marks the wound resilience marks the healing and memorial day
is as much about resilience as it is about remembrance.
It's about rising each day to say we will live worthy of their great sacrifice.
We will carry forward the hopes that they entrusted with us.
Freedom is not free by any means.
Those words are not a slogan.
It's a reality paid for in the blood and dreams of those we remember today.
Those who rest beneath the soul of Arlington Cemetery and as cemeteries large and small across America and indeed on distant battlefields, fought not for conquest or spoils, but for a simple shining truth that a nation built on liberty and justice must be preserved, not by words, but by deeds.
facta non verba. And what then is our charge? What is required of the living? It is this,
that we meet adversity with resilience and that we answer sorrow with action, that we redeem the
cost of their lives by the character of ours. Resilience is not forgetting, it is remembering
and living differently because of what we remember. It is accepting that grief never truly leaves us
but insisting that it does not paralyze us.
As Sheryl Sandberg once said,
resilience is like a muscle.
It must be worked.
It must be built and drawn upon
when the storms of life come and they will come.
To the Gold Star families,
you can show us how it's done
in the quiet dignity of your morning
and the courage you summon
to face the days the world barely notices.
You embody the very spirit of American resilience.
You remind us that true strength is not the absence of sorrow, but the refusal to be defeated by it.
Today, as we lay a wreath here at Daily Plaza, we honor not the fallen, not just the fallen, but the unfinished work left in our hands.
As President Abraham Lincoln said, standing at another cemetery of the fallen,
The great task remaining before us is not to just honor the dead so that they did not die in vain.
The great task before us in our time is clear, to live lives of service, sacrifice, self-denial,
to stand up for the truth, to defend the ideals that so many died to preserve.
Democracy, freedom, equality under the law, these are not abstractions.
These are responsibilities, and they must be defended anew by every generation.
Our beloved city has always understood this, from the factories that arm the arsenals of democracy
to the sons and daughters that we sent to every battlefield.
Chicago has always answered the call.
And so we must, again today, not with rifles, but with resolve, with divisions, not with divisions, but with unity.
The memory of our fallen is not a relic.
It is a summons, a call to live, to serve, to honor, a call to resilience, a call to
hope, a call to carry forward the flag that we all carried in battle, not merely in our
hands, but in our hearts.
So I say to you today, let us grieve, let us remember, but above all, let us continue
to rise.
Let us show the world that from mourning will come resilience, that from sorrow will come strength,
and that from sacrifice we will forge a future worthy of their dreams.
May God bless the memory of our fallen.
May God bless the Gold Star families.
May God bless the great United States of America.
And may God bless the city of Chicago.
Thank you.
I just want to quickly announce that Congresswoman Robin Kelly has also joined us.
And thank you, Major General Walker.
Next is my pleasure to honor this year's recipient of the Major General John A. Logan Patriot Award.
Major General Logan helped to bring attention to the observance of Memorial Day
and played a key role in this day of remembrance.
He was active in Veterans Affairs and helped lead the call for the creation of Memorial Day
as a national public holiday after the Civil War.
It was first observed on May 30, 1868.
In honor of Major General Logan, each year the city of Chicago presents the Major General John A. Logan Patriot Award
to an individual whose patriotism, leadership, and selfless devotion to the men and women of America's armed forces in the city of Chicago
go above and beyond their civilian and non-civilian duties.
I would like to ask Mayor Johnson, Senator Durbin, and Major General Walker to join me in presenting the Major General John A. Logan Patriot Award to James Terry Blue, Sr., United States Marine Corps veteran.
James Terry Blue Sr. was born on January 4, 1947, in Elmore, Alabama, and raised on Chicago's west side.
A 1966 graduate of Marshall High School, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
After his service in the U.S. Marine Corps, he spent over 30 years in public safety,
working as a police officer at Heinz VA Hospital and Rush University.
For more than 20 years, he has served as a dedicated veteran service officer for the African-American PTSD Association.
Mr. Blue continues to live a life of service, finding his greatest joy in his wife, Regina, their two children, and his granddaughter.
He is known for his compassion, leadership, and unwavering support of fellow veterans.
His legacy is one of strength, service, and love for both the country and his community.
Please help me welcome our awardee with a round of applause, James Terry Blue, Sr.
We're here today to pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice defending our country.
I would like to invite Jean Harris, Northern Illinois Survivor Outreach Service Support Coordinator and Gold Star Mother to Sergeant Joshua Harris,
Illinois Army National Guard, who was killed in action September 17, 2008, for some remarks.
Good morning, and thank you for gathering here today to honor our country's fallen heroes.
A special heartfelt thank you to all my fellow Gold Star families,
those who carry the memory of a spouse, a child, a parent, or sibling
who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
We are many years removed from the beginning of the war on terrorism.
We are grateful to not be adding names to the list of fallen
or welcoming another family member to the Gold Star families,
a group that none of us wishes to be a part of.
I'm sorry.
This day remains profoundly significant.
Memorial Day is a time for all Americans to pause, reflect,
and honor those who gave their lives to service to our country.
For Gold Star families, remembrance is not confined to a single day.
It lives in the empty chair at the table
in the milestones celebrated without a loved one
and in photos on the wall that never age,
frozen in time.
These memories are not distant.
They remain distant.
vivid as if just yesterday, not the 15 or 20 years ago that they were taken.
Their duty was to serve, our duty is to remember.
We honor them by speaking their name, by carrying their legacies forward,
through stories shared with strangers or with grandchildren or other family members who will never meet them.
by honoring them through service to others
however feels best for each family to speak of them
to pay tribute to their spirit and sacrifice.
If you have the honor to meet a Gold Star family member
I encourage you to ask them about their loved one
ask them their name
let them share their heart and soul of their son
their daughter, their spouse, their parent or sibling
Whether it brings tears or smiles, it brings pride to them,
and it keeps their memory alive and their names spoken.
Thank you, Mayor Johnson and the City of Chicago
and all the agencies who make this possible today and each year,
a day that we can come together to honor and remember
the brave men and women of Illinois
and for embracing the Gold Star families
and letting them know their loved one is not forgotten.
Thank you, Gene.
Escorted by the JROTC cadets, we will now lay four wreaths in commemoration of Memorial Day.
Mayor Johnson, Senator Durbin, and Major General William Walker will lay the United States wreath.
Our military representatives will lay the Armed Forces wreath.
Gene Harris will lay our Gold Star family wreath.
The last wreath is the POW-MIA wreath in honor of those that are not forgotten.
May I ask everyone to stand as Jory Phillips of Lyons Township High School sings God Bless America,
followed by the three-volley salute by the 34th Division Sustained Brigade, Illinois National Guard,
and taps by Sergeant Nicholas Pickla, member of the 484th Army Band.
God bless America, land that I stand beside her through the night with the lights from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, wide with foam, America, lead home.
Thank you for joining us for this morning's ceremony.
As you gather with family and friends this Memorial Day weekend, let us not forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Thank you.