Chicago pays tribute to fallen with annual downtown Memorial Day Parade, wreath-laying ceremony

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago is remembering the fallen this Memorial Day weekend.

Huge crowds gathered downtown to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending and protecting the country.

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The tributes began with the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the eternal flame in Daley Plaza at 11 a.m.

The Chicago Memorial Day Parade then stepped off at noon at State and Lake, right outside ABC7's State Street studios. The parade route headed south on State to Van Buren.

This year's Grand Marshal was Chicago-native Rear Admiral Zeita Merchant. She recently made history as the first African-American woman promoted to flag rank in the U.S. Coast Guard.

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Chicago's Memorial Day Parade is one of the largest in the nation. It was approved by Congress beginning in 1947.

Travelling 'Remembering Our Fallen Memorial' in Elgin for the weekend

The photographs of fallen heroes can be found on nearly three dozen tribute towers at the Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin.

Elgin City councilman and U.S. Marine veteran Anthony Ortiz worked to bring the traveling Remembering Our Fallen Memorial to the cemetery.

"It shows the families of the service members that died or killed in action, that we don't forget about them," said Ortiz.

The memorial honors over 5,300 military personnel who lost their lives serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan from 9/11 through 2021. That includes over two dozen marines Ortiz served with in Afghanistan.

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"I want to start showing my generation of Marines and my veteran generation that we also had a lot of sacrifices," said Ortiz.

The memorial also recognizes those who were killed in training accidents and also acknowledges service members who died by suicide.

"I know that as this memorial travels across the country there's going to be other Americans and other people across the world that come to see this thing and their faces are always going to be remembered," said Ortiz.