Put to Rest by the River
The new memorial replaces another one, a white granite fountain that used to stand near Lorado Taft’s statue of George Washington and two other Revolutionary War heroes in Heald Square, a small plaza in the middle of Wacker Drive between State and Wabash. Unveiled on Veterans Day in 1982, it was one of the first memorials of its kind in the nation. According to a Tribune account from November 12, 1982, Mayor Byrne dedicated it while hundreds of vets and their families stood in a driving rain. The ceremony opened with an invocation by Archbishop Joseph Bernardin and concluded when Byrne “placed in the fountain a time capsule containing the names of the Chicago-area servicemen who died in the war and a letter from President Reagan commending the city for remembering the war veterans.”
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When he mentioned Byrne, a few old-time political observers in the crowd exchanged looks of disbelief. Byrne was recovering from surgery and couldn’t attend. But her daughter, Kathy Byrne, thanked Daley for inviting her mother to the ceremony.
Mell managed to pay on time, but only because he paid online. He wasn’t alone. “I got my bill on November 1, just like Mell,” says Irwin Blumensaadt. “I asked my mailman about it, and he said there was a whole block of people he was delivering to. We were definitely not alone.”
“Yes, if the mailman fails to deliver the bill that’s no reason for the taxpayer to fail to pay. Even if the tax bill never arrives at his door, a taxpayer has sole responsibility to be aware that he’s going to get billed twice a year. You have to know that they go out sometime in the spring and sometime in the fall. And you have to pay.”
