The Ottawa Memorial Association marked Veterans Day by laying a wreath Saturday morning at the Viet Nam Memorial in Ottawa by the Illinois River. Then they marched up Columbus Street to Washington Square Park where 50 US flags were mounted, 25 on either side of the 20th-century war memorial at the park’s north end.
President Katie Troccoli gave a speech recalling the bravery of the 82nd airborne as they liberated a nazi concentration camp in May of 1945.
The north end of Washington Park was full of onlookers, both veterans and their families.