11-11-11: A Video Tribute to Oak Lawn's Veterans

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Each photo in this Veterans Day slideshow is connected to Oak Lawn. Many of them were submitted by Patch readers. While some of the veterans may not have lived or grown up in Oak Lawn, they mean something to our readers.

Some we wrote about during the past year, like the Army Ranger who was wounded in Afghanistan in March, or , two soldiers who came home last week to give their mom away at her wedding. Jake is coming home from Afghanistan; his big brother, John, leaves for there next month.

He was KIA at Okinawa in 1945 when he was 22. His gravesite at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery was re-dedicated on what would have been his 89th birthday in August. Not enough people read his story. Make sure you have a big box of Kleenix handy when you do. We will never forget him.

My father, Herbert Swanson, who served in the Navy aboard the U.S.S. Rockbridge in the Pacific Theater during World War II, appears on slide 26.

Raymond Johnson, one of the fellows for whom the is named,appears on slide 28.

a Marine and recent graduate of Oak Lawn Community High School, appears on slide 13.

Even if we included a million pictures, it wouldn't even scrape the surface of the words of thanks that we owe to our brave veterans who put their lives on the line, some paying the ultimate price, so that we can continue to enjoy our freedom.

Here are 42,000 words for starters. Thank-you.