Members of the Veterans Memorial Committee are predicting a record year for participation in Monday’s Memorial Day parade in Arlington Heights, with more than 90 marching units and 2,500 participants.
(Photos by the Arlington Heights Camera Club)
The annual parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. from Village Hall, heading west on Sigwalt Avenue to Dunton Street, north and ultimately culminating with a ceremony at Memorial Park, located at Chestnut and Fremont Streets. The ceremony starts at 11 a.m. and will include the reading of the 68 names of the service men and women who lived in Arlington Heights and died in the service of the nation — from the Civil War to Operation Enduring Freedom.
This year’s guest of honor is Medal of Honor Recipient Allen J. Lynch, who was awarded the nation’s highest military honor in 1970. Lynch was a member of the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, who singlehandedly rescued three of his comrades, crossing a fire-swept field to drag them to safety, during the Battle of My-An in the Vietnam War. Lynch currently lives in Gurnee.
“We are given the honor of representing the thousands upon thousands of men and women who have served our country, who have done marvelous heroic things,” Lynch said of himself and other Medal of Honor recipients. “We carry this for them for.
Members of the Rolling Meadows High School marching band in 2025
“It’s not about me, it’s not about what I did,” Lynch adds. “It’s what they did and weren’t recognized. It’s a tremendous honor to do this.”
Joining Lynch in the parade will be approximately 90 members of the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Center honor guard and members of the 484th U.S. Army band, as well as the Buffalo Grove, Hersey and Rolling Meadows high school marching bands as well as the St. James School band.
Look for Scouts to be handing out “Arlington Remembers” signs to families along the parade route. These signs bear the names of Arlington’s fallen heroes and organizers encourage people to hold up the signs as members of the military and veterans pass by.
Members of the Hersey High School marching band
Between the large military presence as well as high school marching bands, colorful floats, Scouting units and local and state dignitaries, the parade offers a special way to salute service members.
Greg Padovani serves as chairman of the Arlington Heights Memorial Committee, who works with committee members to organize the parade.
“Dignitaries always tell me that Memorial Day in Arlington Heights,” he says, “is a Norman Rockwell experience.”
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