The Joliet Army Ammunition Plant manufactured munitions during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The arsenal occupied 24,000 acres and the United States Government had to decide what to do with the land after munition productions were stopped at the site.
They remediated the land for any possible contamination and decided that 982 acres would be set aside for a national cemetery for veterans. (Additional acres would be dedicated as the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.)
The cemetery would be named the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery to honor the founder of the national Veteran cemetery system. Currently the Department of Veterans’ Affairs National Cemetery Administration maintains 136 national cemeteries.
The Abraham Lincoln is the second largest and will have 400,000 burial sites when it is completed. Since the cemetery was dedicated in 1999, memorials have been held for 80,000 Veterans, their spouses and dependent children. There are seven columbaria and five committal shelters. They can bury 30-40 people a day.
On August 26, 2003, an all-volunteer memorial squad was instituted to assist in providing military honors at the time of internment.
In 2010, Charles Bueche of Naperville was buried at this cemetery. His wife of 58 years, Audrey, passed away earlier this year and also will be buried at the cemetery. They will finally be together again.
I recall that Chuck and Audrey met at North Central College. Back then, students could not be married to each other while attending the college. They secretly eloped after Chuck graduated in 1952 when Audrey was still a student.
The two of them volunteered together to help make Naperville a wonderful place to live. Chuck was one of the founders of the Naperville Jaycees. They found time to help together at Wesley United Methodist Church, the local YMCA, the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts, the High School Booster Club and American Legion Post 43. It was an honor to know both of them.
