Parades, ceremonies and other events planned for Memorial Day around Chicago area
This Memorial Day, events are planned all around the Chicago area to honor members of the U.S. Armed Forces who died in the line of duty.
The City of Aurora, Illinois, is hosting its annual Memorial Day Parade, kicking off at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Benton and River streets. The grand marshal, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jim Butler, will lead marching bands, local veterans' groups, and military organizations.
In west suburban St. Charles, the day started early with a flag raising at 6 a.m. Monday. Boy Scouts then led flag ceremonies through the cemeteries on Fifth Avenue.
Later, the parade down Main Street in St. Charles steps off at 10 a.m. The city will then hold a memorial service outside the old police department building, at 211 N. Riverside Ave.
In Arlington Heights, the Memorial Day Parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. Monday. The village will honor Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Sgt. Allen Lynch from the First Cavalry Division.
The parade steps off at Sigwalt Street and Arlington Heights Road, heads north on Dunton Avenue, and turns left on Euclid Avenue and ends at Memorial Park at Chestnut Avenue and Fremont Street. After the parade, there will be a ceremony at the park.
The Beverly and Morgan Park neighborhoods are commemorating Memorial Day with a ceremony and parade alongside the 49th annual Ridge Run. The run steps off at 8 a.m. at Ridge Park, 9625 S. Longwood Dr. The parade follows at 10:15 a.m. from 110th Street and Longwood Drive, for its 100th anniversary.
Organizations say this is the first time the Ridge Run has been added to the Chicago Area Runners Association racing circuit.
Along the Chicago lakefront, a ceremony will be held Monday morning to remember Milton Lee Olive III. In 1965, the 18-year-old fell on a grenade and died in Vietnam in an effort to save others. Posthumously, he was the first African American to receive a medal of honor during the Vietnam War for saving the lives of his four comrades.
The ceremony honoring Olive will be held at 8 a.m. at Milton Lee Olive Park, near Ohio Street Beach and the Jardine Water Filtration Plant, just north of Navy Pier. U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Illinois) will attend the event.
At the event, elected officials will also call on the Trump administration to restore Olive's military file to the U.S. Department of Justice. Officials said President Trump ordered the removal of the files because he believes Olive's heroic actions were the result of DEI.
In downtown Chicago, military and community members are set to host a Memorial Day ceremony and march downtown. They will gather at 11 a.m. Monday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial near Wacker Drive and State Street.
The group is speaking out against the war in Iran, conflict in Gaza, and federal funding cuts. Organizers also say they want to highlight the right for military members to say no to illegal wars.
On Chicago's South Side, the 11th annual Commander Robert Davis South Side Memorial Day Parade is taking place in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The march starts at St. Leo's Campus for Veterans, 7750 S. Emerald Ave., and will proceed west on 79th Street to Racine Avenue. It ends at Veteran's New Beginnings, 8140 S. Racine Ave.
On the Near West Side, the Church of the Holy Family, at 1080 W. Roosevelt Rd. next to Saint Ignatius College Prep, will hold a Memorial Day parade and mass to honor deceased members of the Chicago Fire Department. The ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. with a parade of uniformed CFD members led by the Pipes and Drums of the CFD in front of Saint Ignatius, followed by mass at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Family.
After mass, those in attendance will gather around the flagpole at Roosevelt Road and May Street for the raising of the flag, a 21-gun salute, and taps.
In East Lakeview, the WOOGMS Memorial Day Parade steps off at 11 a.m. on Wellington Avenue just west of Pine Grove Avenue. The annual Wellington-Oakdale Old Glory Marching Society Memorial Day Parade has been around since 1963, and lives by the motto, "Everybody marches, nobody watches."
The event invites residents from across Chicago to grab a scooter, a stroller, or whatever they have on hand to take part in the do-it-yourself parade.
The parade has a new route this year — east on Wellington Avenue, north on Pine Grove Avenue, east on Barry Avenue, south on Sheridan Road, east on Diversey Parkway, and north on Lake Shore Drive West.
Chicago's official Memorial Day Parade was held on Saturday.
