There were several Barrington events honoring area veterans this Veterans Day, including services at Lake Barrington Shores, the Veterans Memorial in downtown Barrington and Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital.
Fourth-grade students at Lines Elementary School also performed patriotic songs at a school-wide assembly this morning and for their parents tonight in honor of Veterans Day.
The importance of teaching younger generations to honor and care for those who have served our country was one of the common thoughts shared by veterans who attended the first-ever Veterans Day service at Good Shepherd Hospital this afternoon.
That’s where I learned that a number of people employed by our hospital are veterans, including several men who work for Good Shepherd’s security department and hospital Coordinator of Regulatory Affairs, Jason Jahnke.
I took a few minutes to visit with veterans at Good Shepherd this afternoon. All made a point of sharing how much they appreciate this show of support on Veteran’s Day.
“I’m a veteran of the US Army and I served for 12 and a half years. I spent a year in the Middle East from 2003 to 2004. My dad is a veteran and both of my grandfathers served in World War II. I think it’s important to have days like this to honor veterans because they are forgotten sometimes. People forget that we have the freedoms we do in the United States because they have gone to war for those freedoms. I hope that others do recognize the sacrifice veterans make and honor them with simple things like standing when the Star Spangled Banner is played or saluting a flag or just saying thank you to a veteran. It really means a lot.”
– Jason Jahnke, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Coordinator of Regulatory Affairs
“I served in the original Gulf War, Bosnia and Afghanistan as a US Army Staff Sergeant Military Police Officer. When we got back it always seemed like there was never a thank you. It seems like we’re the forgotten veterans. You do your duty and then, when you come back and nobody takes time out to remember our sacrifice, with an event like this we feel appreciated because a little something goes a long way.”
– Edgar Garcia, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Public Safety Officer
“I served in the US Navy from 1973 to 1979, I was in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for a year and a half and then I spent time in Norfolk, Virginia. I also had a brother who was in the Vietnam War and, when he came home, he was pretty much neglected and he wound up committing suicide and that was a big loss for us. We need to support veterans and their families and do more to help bring them back to where they were before they went to war.”
– Randy Bibb, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Public Safety Officer
There were also a number of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital associates who attended today’s service with relatives who served our country, like veteran Walter Marek who got engaged to his wife of 67 years, Lorraine Marek, during his service in World War II.
“I served from 1943 to 1946 in Europe, in the Battle of the Bulge, and crossed the Bridge at Remagen three hours after we took that bridge. So I was part of the biggest battles that were fought. And a lot of young kids today don’t even realize what us old guys did so they can have all these freedoms that they have today.“
“It’s the newspapers that have to remind them – not just on Veterans Day – it’s gotta be almost every week that they should remind these kids who did what to make this land free.”
– Walter Marek – WWII Veteran
