Teacher among 11 service members to have names added to Orland Park Veterans Memorial

In observance of Veterans Day, some service members got to see their names engraved at the veterans memorial in south suburban Orland Park.

For Jack Kinsella III, who works as a bandmaster at Jerling Junior High School, being able to share the experience with his students was just as impactful as serving in the Illinois Air National Guard.

"I've been at Jerling for 28 years, and I concurrently served in the Air National Guard for 22 years, and with tremendous support from the school district and community and my family," he said.

The ceremony at the Orland Park Civic Center honored his name and ten others — enshrined on their veterans memorial ahead of the holiday.

Kinsella says it was mind-boggling to know that his name will now forever be enshrined at the memorial.

"The joke was, I thought you had to be done with your earthly life to be placed on the wall, and that's not one of the requirements. So I think it's great to celebrate the veterans who are still with us, and to build that sense of community, and then to be a positive talking point, to be a hopefully to be a positive role model"

Sharing the moment with his 8th-grade band students behind him — CBS News Chicago captured Kinsella walking over to the memorial and seeing his name engraved there for the very first time.

He says his hope is to inspire the youth in his community to lead a life of service too.

"Hopefully we'll see some more names of our former students on the wall. That would be outstanding. We currently have a handful of students who are serving right now, and who have also served and have now gone on to civilian careers."

A list of growing names that many came to honor on a day dedicated to their service and legacy.