The Lincoln Birthday Weekend, Part 2: More Wars, More Memorials

September 8, 2024 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Large all-white globe on an outdoor pedestal. The Pacific Ocean side has metal discs marking locations where Illinoisans died in combat.

The World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial marks casualty locations across the Pacific theater.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In addition to our annual road trips, my wife Anne and I have a twice-yearly tradition of spending our birthdays together on some new experience. On past trips we’d visited the graves, tombs, mausoleums and virtual posthumous palaces of 24 American Presidents in varying accommodations and budgets. One of the biggest names ever to grace the White House kept eluding us: Abraham Lincoln, planted a mere three hours away in Springfield, Illinois. In May 2023 I figured: let’s make his tomb a trip headliner of its very own, not a warm-up act on the road to Branson or whatever. History is technically more Anne’s fervent interest than mine, but we found plenty to do beyond reading wordy educational placards…

The Lincoln Tomb is the most widely known part of Oak Ridge Cemetery, but curious visitors can find other departed souls and tributes to hometown soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country, not just the Civil War. Whereas many cities and towns we’ve visited tend to plant their war memorials in or around their capitol buildings, town squares, Main Streets, or downtown areas, Springfield’s collection is near Oak Ridge’s west exit, at a remove from all the other Lincoln sightseeing options. Once again we had to navigate around field-trippers to take pics, as well as a small biker clan that had come to pay respects to the fallen they knew.


Large all-white globe on a concrete pedestal. Around it is a walkway surrounded by short, curved, black marble walls.

The World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial is not quite the largest, but devotes considerable space to the 987,000 Illinoisans who served and the 22,000+ who died.

Short black outdoor wall etched: "This cenotaph is dedicated to the more than 22,000 Illinois veterans who gave their lives in the service of their country during the Second World War."

Engraved statement of purpose.

Closeup of large all-white globe. The European side has metal discs marking locations where Illinoisans died in combat.

The European Theater side of the globe.

Short black marble wall engraved with FDR's famous speech after Pearl Harbor: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan."

Famous quotes are engraved all over the monument’s walls, such as the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt’s speech after Pearl Harbor…

Short black marble wall engraved with MacArthur quote: "There is no substitute for victory."

…a brief one from General Douglas MacArthur…

Short black marble wall engraved with Truman quote: "Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima...If they do not accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this Earth."

…dramatically escalating with this one from President Truman…

Short black marble wall engraved with quote: "Hit hard. Hit fast. Hit often." Behind it, a second wall is engraved with a timeline of WWII events -- Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Japan's surrender.

…and culminating in this, um, juxtaposition with Admiral William Halsey that raises some questions about the monument design and quote selection process.

Four white columns with angled tops surrounded by short black marble walls AND taller black trapezoidal columns covered in fallen soldiers' names.

The Vietnam War memorial takes up a bit more square footage and honors another 3,000 Illinoisans.

Short white obelisk with a blue globe on top, standing in a cemetery.

A much smaller, county-specific World War I memorial for 113 local deceased.

Large metal bell with four soldiers standing on it, mounted on a stone pedestal. Message engraved on one side: "Let them not be forgotten, for they have shown the world that freedom is never free."

The Korean War Memorial honor four branches and 1,748 who died.

Large concrete standalone wall etched with soldiers walking in a line, labeled "Korea 1950". The wall stands at the end of a short sidewalk and is surrounded by a rectangular gravel bed.

Furthering the Korean War remembrances is the much more specific “The March Out of the Chosin”, in tribute to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

Sticker for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which was given to a Chaperone #10. Now it's stuck on a stone bench.

Evidence of fellow tourists left behind on a bench, foreshadowing a later chapter in this series.

Tiny mushrooms popping up through cemetery grass.

Also not far away: mushrooms!

Two giant family plots side by side. One is a black Greek column with two long rows of headstones, mostly empty for now. The other is a large white open double-doorway with its fake doors opened. Six white headstones are spaced apart in front.

The sizable Oak Ridge landscape features family plots in all shapes and sizes.

Tombstone labeled "Vose the Korndog King".

Other local notables along our walk include Bob Vose, a veteran and alderman whose concession stand at the Illinois State Fair had been a mainstay since 1966 until his passing last year…

Black crypt marker for Roy Bertelli, Mr. Accordion, with a picture of an accordion, sitting on a cemetery roadway median. My car is parked by the curb.

…and the crypt of World War II veteran Roy Bertelli, a.k.a. “Mr. Accordion”, who’s actually buried in another cemetery but fought hard for his purchase of this specific plot right inside the Oak Ridge gates. It’s kind of a long and fascinating story.

To be continued! Other chapters in this special MCC miniseries:

Part 1: The Tomb of Honest Abe
Part 3: The Illinois State Capitol
Part 4: Around the Capitol Complex
Part 5: Generation X Belongs in a Museum
Part 6: Misc. Museum
Part 7: His Presidential Library & Museum
Part 8: The Lincoln Museum Minus Lincoln
Part 9: ‘Round Springfield
Part 10: Lincoln Home & Law & Gifts

Discover more from Midlife Crisis Crossover!

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

What do you, The Viewers at Home, think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.