Military re-enactment buffs remember America's veterans at Rosehill Cemetery on North Side

In honor of Veteran's Day, remembrances kicked off over the weekend in a place on the North Side with a lot of history -- the graves of so many from America's wars.

At the largest private burial ground of union veterans in Illinois, military re-enactment buffs gathered to remember American veterans, with a special emphasis on the Civil War.

"The men standing behind me represent those veterans that still live in all of our hearts," said Capt. Mark Anthony Demski, of First Michigan Engineers.

Historic Rosehill Cemetery on the North Side has hosted this re-enactment for years. Fourteen generals, 350 union soldiers and three Confederate soldiers are buried in the area.

"They earned our freedom at the birth of a nation, preserved our unity," said Chaplain Jerry Kowalski of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Kowalski added, "We are the land of the free because of the bravery of our veterans. If they were not there to protect us and to keep this nation whole and together, we wouldn't be here."