Mundelein to honor military personnel with banners
To coincide with Memorial Day, Mundelein will honor past and current U.S. military personnel on banners in the downtown area.
Installation is scheduled Wednesday on light poles along Hawley Street and Seymour Avenue.
“We’ve seen other communities honor their veterans in this manner, and we loved the idea,” Mayor Steve Lentz said in a news release. “We hope residents and visitors will pause and appreciate the sacrifices made by our hometown heroes.”
Nineteen banners will feature photographs of the personnel, their names and their branches of service. The photos will be set against blue backgrounds featuring American flags.
One banner will recognize the branches of service for veterans living in the Grand Dominion subdivision. It will not include their names.
The 19 individual honorees are:
• Ronald C. Jensen, Marines.
• Edward B. Lama, Army.
• Roger D. Hall, Marines.
• Blake R. Cassata, Marines.
• Bob Pflug, Army.
• Arnold Zehner, Marines.
• Albert J. Kristan, Army.
• William B. Leding Jr., Marines.
• William C. Schafernak, Army.
• Thomas Frey, Navy.
• Sylvia J. Frey, Navy.
• Tom Wilson, Marines.
• Roger W. Letto, Army.
· Barry Henry, Navy.
· Mark Wachholder, Marines.
· Wallace E. Frasier Jr., Army.
· Nicholas A. Bock Jr., Army.
· Michael A. Walsh, Marines.
· Frederick J. Kasting, Army.
Three of the honorees — Jensen, Lama and Letto — were killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Each banner costs $100 to produce, and most fees are being covered by families of the honorees, village spokeswoman Dawn Jenich said. Fees were waived for the honorees who were killed in battle.
Kristan’s banner was sponsored by his grandson, Mundelein resident Dan Merkau. Kristan, who died in 2021, served in an ordnance and automotive maintenance unit during World War II, landing in France and moving across the continent to Germany by war’s end.
“He would talk about it if you asked him,” Merkau said.
Mundelein Trustee Tim Wilson sponsored a banner to honor his father, who served during the Korean War and died in 2019.
“It’s very touching, especially going into Memorial Day weekend,” Wilson said.
The banners will be displayed through Veterans Day and then will be given to the sponsors. A list of future honorees already is being compiled.
Vernon Hills, Wauconda and Mount Prospect are among the other suburbs that have honored military personnel with publicly displayed banners.