Veterans Day In Mokena: How To Honor Military Personnel

MOKENA, IL — The Mokena Community Park District is scheduled to host its annual Stocking for Our Troops event at 9 a.m. Thursday at The Oaks Recreation and Fitness Center, 10847 W. La Porte Road.

Attendees can decorate holiday stockings for troops stationed overseas. Stockings and craft supplies will be provided. Cards, paper, pens, and crayons will also be available for attendees to write a letter of thanks and appreciation to include with the stocking. The park district is also accepting donations of small “stocking stuffer” items, such as protein bars, gum, trail mix, deodorant, shampoo, cards, razors, toothpaste and other essentials.

Operation Care Package will send all completed stockings and donations to the troops.

Also on Veterans Day, the Mokena VFW is scheduled to host a Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at Pioneer Cemetery. Brigadier General Stephen Curda is scheduled to be the guest speaker.

The post office and most banks will be closed in Mokena on Thursday in observance of Veterans Day, a federal holiday that honors veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

Veterans Day, commemorated annually on Nov. 11, was first celebrated in 1919 to honor those who fought in World War I. It was initially called Armistice Day and was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

The holiday’s origin is tied to the armistice, a temporary end of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany signed in France on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

It became Veterans Day in 1954, shortly following the end of the Korean War and less than a decade after World War II, after various veterans service organizations urged Congress to encompass veterans of all wars in their honor.

While some ceremonies, parades and services may be canceled or altered as the coronavirus pandemic continues, restaurants and other businesses will continue to show their appreciation for veterans and active-military members.

Applebee’s, Bob Evans and Chili’s Grill and Bar are among the national restaurant chains offering free or discounted meals for veterans on Nov. 11, and 7-Eleven is offering a free cup of coffee or Big Gulp.

Other places, such as Golden Corral, have offers extended throughout November.

Veterans Day is somewhat related to, and sometimes mistaken for, Memorial Day, the federal holiday on the final Monday of May that is dedicated to those who have died while serving the United States.

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