The 2018 Naperville Memorial Day will step off at 10:30AM on Mon., May 28, in downtown Naperville, an ongoing tradition that began back in the 1920s when the holiday was known as Decoration Day.
Meanwhile, the 2018 Naperville Memorial Day Parade Committee is seeking names of every Naperville service man or woman who has given the ultimate sacrifice to this nation.
For the past couple of years, Jim Hoch and Iris Fischer have been researching obituaries, cemeteries and other records to identify names of all service men and women from Naperville. Dating back to the Black Hawk War in 1832, the committee has identified 114 individuals from Naperville who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. This year, new Memorial Day Parade banners will designate 12 wars and conflicts with a memorable tribute to every military man and woman from Naperville who died while serving to protect precious freedoms, a way to remember their sacrifice and recognize Gold Star families.
“Before we print banners,” suggested Ray Kinney of Blooming Color, “Let’s do a final call out to the community to make sure everyone is aware of this effort and ensure we aren’t missing anyone.”
The community is encouraged to review the following list to see if any fallen hero is missing. Naperville residents have been identified and listed with the war in which they served:
The Black Hawk War / William Brown;
The Mexican-American War / Edmund Brown;
The American Civil War / Lewis Bessing, John Campbell, Lewis Conklin, John Daniels, William Dedtzler, Alvaro F. Drullard, John Drury, Isaac Elsy, Daniel H. Fowler, Harry Boardman Freeman, Richard Garbs, Thomas Giblin, Soloman Givler, Emanuel Gushard, William Houser, John B. Hubrecht, Edward E. Hull, Jacob Hummer, Charles W. Hyde, John Itzenhauser, Samuel C. Kellogg, Williman Jepthah Kenyon, Jacob Kochley, Charles Leonard, Menry Meacham, Merritt Lindsey, Albert Mosley, George Austin Naper, Baptiste Neas, Joseph Neff, Daniel Neaderhauser, Henry Norton, George Person, Horace S. Potter, William C. Porter, Carl Schultz, Richard Shanning, Reuben Snyder, Samuel Snyder, Elisha Stanley, DeWitt C. Stevens, Thomas Stinson, Joseph L. Tennant, Herman Trinke, William J. Tobias, John Vanderogan, Elisha Wert, Elisha H. Wilcox and Henry S. Zentmeyer;
The Spanish-American War / Ernest L. Smith;
World War I / Edward Carol Babst, Jennings Clyde Beidelman, Eugene McKinley Berger, Arnold Paul Hiltenbrand, Edward William Hiltz, Oliver Jillian (Judd) Kendall and Henry Ettinger Rude;
World War II / Merlyn Clyde Auner, Harlan Ted Baliman, Julius Joseph Babst, Leopold F. Bartha, Harold Eugene Beidelman, Philip Mills Clow, Willard F. Crippen, Eugene E. Dowling, Louis Norton Duesing, Oliver John Ebinger, Harry C. Gregory, Alvin Homer Hauptfuehrer, Jack G. Hawbecker, Jack Kenneth Heinke, Peter C. Helson, Jr., Paul S. Hensley, Richard Frank Julius, William R. Kelsch, George Walter Knoch, James M. Liston, Charles R. Martin, George Arcade Massier, Lawrence Christian Nadelhoffer, Gerald W. Palmer, Omer Lee Pamplin, William W. Schatzer, Arthur Schnabel, Dale E. Tomlin and Robert Joseph Yetter;
The Korean War / Margaret Abbott (only woman), Robert Edding Channon, Howard B. Dunn, William L. Jensen and Leslie A. Van Poucke;
The Vietnam War / Christopher Wayne Beavers, Michael James Beirne, Michael Edward Dunn, Walter Joseph Gutowski, John Charles Luebke, Dean Ward Moehring, Ronald Michael Nowak, Donald John Porter, Jay Charles Sacks, Edward Michael Sieben and John Braxton Woodall;
The War on Terror / CMDR Dan Frederic Shanower;
Operation Iraqi Freedom / Bradley Harry Beste, David Mitchell Caruso, James Melvin Hale, Jack Taft Hennessy, Adam Wade Kaiser and Andrew Robert Pokorny;
Operation Enduring Freedom / Gunnar Randall Hotchkin and Anthony Gary Mihalo;
The War in Afghanistan / Daniel Alexander Weiss.
In remembrance of all Naperville Gold Star Families, the Memorial Day Parade Committee aims to include everyone.
Memorial Day Parade Committee member Wayne Fischer extends his appreciation to Blooming Color for graciously agreeing to donate these banners for this important community effort.
Anyone who knows a Naperville resident who died while serving in the military not on the list is asked to send the individual’s name with the conflict to Wayne Fischer at wayne.l.fischer@gmail.com. To be included on the 2018 Memorial Day Parade banners, send additional names by April 23. Thank you.
