Hero Street is a place of great pride to the people of Silvis, IL, the Latino community and the whole community of the Quad Cities, and celebrating Memorial Day there is a very special occasion.
Hero Street, Second Street in Silvis, Illinois lost six Mexican-American young men in World War II and two in the Korean War, more than any other street of comparable size in America.
At the Hero Street Memorial Day ceremonies you will see people from all areas of the political spectrum, people of all ages, all ethnicities and different religions come together to celebrate and remember our fallen heroes of war.
The only division that is clear is that every year we have two different ceremonies for Memorial Day and two different ceremonies for Veterans Day. One at Hero Street Park and the other at the Hero Street Monument both located on the 1 ½ block street literally just a few feet apart.
The two separate groups organizing these celebrations have their own reasoning for having separate ceremonies on different days.
The Hero Street monument will turn 10 years old in October of this year. Most of the people that made this monument a reality have since, sadly, passed away.
I hope the 10th Anniversary of the Hero Street Monument could be an occasion for unity but that will depend on the leadership of both committees.
This is not a quest to see who is right or who is wrong. It is a call for unity.
I can’t help but wonder what the 8 young soldiers/heroes that this street, this park and this monument are honoring, would think of this situation.
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