Tristen Bockovich and Melanie Smith played Taps at the Memorial Day service held on the courthouse lawn while American Legion Post 413 Commander Bob Mattson saluted.
Bob Mattson rang the bell each time he read off a name of a Cook County resident (or part-time resident) who had served in the military and passed away in 2016.
Mattson rang the bell an astonishing 31 times. When he was done, a somber Mattson told the crowd that he apologized if he had missed anyone, and at the conclusion of the Memorial Day service held on the courthouse lawn May 29, Lucille (Eide) Nelson approached Mattson with two more names.
With each bell strike, the sound rang through the audience like a wake up call. The World War II soldiers are almost all gone, said Mattson, and the survivors of the Korean War are fewer and fewer each year, he said. Even the Viet Nam vets, of whom Mattson and Don (Smasher) Wilson and others on hand were part of, were starting to fall away in larger numbers every year.
Normally Don “Smasher” Wilson handles the duties of setting up the Memorial Day service, said Mattson. But not this year. Smasher is sick, said Mattson, who called on the crowd to honor him with applause and to thank him in person if they see him for all of the work he has done on behalf of the local VFW.
Lucille Nelson came forward with two more names to add to the list of fallen soldiers following the service. In all, 33 Cook County veterans passed away in 2016.
Mattson, no spring chicken himself, lamented that when he was younger, he thought it was funny to see old soldiers leaning on each other for support at events like Memorial Day or at parades or for funerals for fallen vets. But no more, “That might be me in the near future,” he told the crowd.
In light of the draft banished by Congress from the country, Mattson said the number of young people joining to serve in the military was falling off, and he encouraged younger people to consider enlisting. Mattson also called on vets who had served to come out and help with the Honor Guard, to offer their service at funerals for deceased soldiers. He feared that with the ranks dwindling locally, in the future there might not be a Memorial Day service. Or an Honor Guard to lead a parade, “And that would be too bad,” he said.
The service began at 11 a.m. on the courthouse lawn on a still, still day. The flags hung limply as the American Legion Post 413 Honor Guard took its position and then the audience quieted as Post Commander Mattson asked Pastor EvaLyn Carlson to say a prayer. The Cook County High School choir sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. Following Mattson’s tribute, Tristen Bockovich and Melanie Smith played Taps, echoing one another.
At the conclusion of the service some from the public came forward to look at the wreath placed by Edie Mattson, Bob’s wife. As the crowd left, some headed for home, some for the graves of long lost soldiers to decorate them, or remember them in prayer. Some in the crowd headed for the former American Legion Post 413, now called Grandma Ray’s, to commiserate with friends and family.
Meanwhile the wind finally arrived and the flags were flapping in the breeze. They were all tattered and in need of repair. The flags are getting old like Bob and Smasher, only the flags can be hemmed and sewn, washed and repaired, while the vets who served, the ones the bell rang for, they might be gone, but they are irreplaceable.
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