Belleville’s Memorial Day speaker says he thinks daily of troops who died for ‘our liberty’
When retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Enyart of Belleville commanded the Illinois National Guard from 2007 to 2012, the unit had its largest deployment since World War II.
And on Monday during the annual Belleville Memorial Day Ceremony at Walnut Hill Cemetery to honor U.S. military members who died in service, Enyart solemnly noted his term as adjutant general for Illinois.
‘“I was proud to be their commander,” Enyart said during his keynote address in the ceremony. “Sadly, not all of those Guard troops made it home. Today, and every day, I keep them in my memory.
“Memorial Day is a vivid reminder of the prices they paid for our liberty.”
Enyart, who served in the U.S. House from 2013 to 2015 as a Democrat representing the 12th Congressional District in southern Illinois, said Memorial Day is also an appropriate time “to reflect on the burden shared by those left behind.”
Enyart noted that the creation of the Memorial Day holiday has ties to southern Illinois.
John A. Logan, who was born in Jackson County in 1826, was the leader of a Union Army veterans group after the Civil War.
This organization was known as the Grand Army of the Republic and Logan filed an order declaring May 30, 1868, to be a day for “decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The holiday was originally called Decoration Day and later was named Memorial Day.
Logan, who was a major general in the Union Army in the Civil War, also served in Congress as a senator and representative for Illinois. He was the vice-presidential running mate of James G. Blaine in their unsuccessful run on the Republican ticket in 1884.
A community college in southern Illinois, John A. Logan College in Carterville, is named after him.
“Many historians consider him the premier volunteer general” of the Civil War, according to a report by the college.
