Story posted Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Honoring The Ultimate Sacrifice
A round of applause for marching veterans taking part in Monday's Memorial Day parade. (Tom Wessell/The Journal)
An Iraq War veteran served as Grand Marshal of the Park Ridge Memorial Day Parade with Gov. Patrick Quinn and other elected officials.
Staff Sgt. Eric Mitchell of the Edison Park neighborhood of Chicago served as the Grand Marshal when the parade began from South Park at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 25. Mitchell joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 2005 while working in the financial services industry. He trained as an intelligence analyst and presently serves at Fort Sheridan in Highland Park.
Mitchell was called to active duty with the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion of Green Bay, Wisc. in November of 2007. He represented the battalion on Task Force Gold in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad. During his service, he twice received the Army Commendation Medal. He is currently working towards his MBA at Loyola University. He is a member of the Park Ridge VFW Post 3579.
The parade traveled up Cumberland Avenue to Prairie Avenue, over to Main Street, past the reviewing stand at City Hall, and ended at Hodges Park.
After the parade, memorial services were held at the American Legion Veteran Monument in Hodges Park, followed by another memorial service at the Civil War Veterans Monument in Town of Maine Cemetery.
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