Emotional Mayor Emanuel celebrates Memorial Day
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter/apallasch@suntimes.com May 28, 2011 4:32PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, right, and Gen. Raymond T. Odierno embrace Joseph and Ellen Dimock during the Gold Star Flag Presentation at the Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony at Daley Plaza Saturday, May 28, 2011, in Chicago. The Dimock's lost their son, U.S., Army Specialist Joseph Dimock II in Afghanistan in 2010. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times
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Updated: May 28, 2011 6:58PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel choked up Saturday when praising the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It was Emanuel’s first time as mayor presiding over Memorial Day ceremonies that include a breakfast for family members of fallen soldiers, a wreath-laying at Daley Plaza and the city’s Memorial Day parade.
“Every day is Memorial Day for those family members,” Emanuel said at the wreath-laying ceremony. “For some, this is the first breakfast they attended...If you see ‘em, hug ‘em...”
The mayor took a moment to compose himself, then thanked the families for their sacrifice.
“We are members of a club nobody wants to join,” Jim Frazier said after Emanuel spoke. Frazier lost his son Jacob, 24, an Illinois Air National Guard member, in Afghanistan in 2003.
Hundreds of people gathered in Daley Plaza to hear Emanuel, Gen. Ray Odierno, who led the U.S. forces in Iraq, and other speakers Saturday morning.
Ald. James Balcer (11th), a former Marine, praised Emanuel for his help in getting veterans overdue medals while he was a congressman.
“We have a good champion for the veterans, for the military,” Balcer said.
The sounds of drums and horns filled the Loop Saturday as high school ROTC programs and marching bands from all over the Chicago area marched down State Street during the parade.
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