Elmhurst in DuPage County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
1. Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial Marker
Vietnam
Because they had "no greater love..." we keep them in our hearts.
We pray this tree dedicated in their honor knows only times of peace.
In commemoration of the visit of "The Moving Wall"
September 8-14, 1988
David R. Burkes jr., June 28, 1968 Steve J. Churchill, May 18, 1967 James T. Cummings Jr., March 30, 1968 John H. Curtin, January 2, 1968 John V. Francis, February 10, 1970 Frank L Kobor, July 3, 1969 Richard D. Krupa, August 29, 1969 Thomas J. Leston, April 7, 1967 Steven R. Major, September 21, 1968 Larry R. Palmer, September 10, 1967 Lawrence C. Rose, September 2, 1968 Jack A. Schneider, June 4, 1966 David E. Schulze, March 1, 1969 Kenneth E. Steinhabel, February 23, 1969
Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Parks & Recreational Areas • War, Vietnam.
Location. 41° 53.737′ N, 87° 56.594′ W. Memorial is in Elmhurst, Illinois, in DuPage County. It is on South Cottage Hill Avenue north of Church Street. The marker is in Wilder Park, on a pedestal in a grass field about 75 yards from the Wilder Mansion. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Elmhurst IL 60126, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this memorial is in Greater Chicago. It is also in the American Midwest and on the Great Lakes. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers.
this page online
More about this memorial. The marker was erected soon after the "Moving Wall" came to Elmhurst in 1988, next to a gingko tree close to the Wilder Mansion. However, laying on the ground in front of the tree, it was easy to missso much so that a local veteran spoke at a meeting of the city board of trustees about the lack of a Vietnam memorial in Elmhurst. When it was discovered that there was a Vietnam memorial in Elmhurst but that it was hard to find, that veteran organized a fundraising effort to have it elevated onto a pedestal and placed in a more prominent position. In 2015, the refurbished monument was placed in on the eastern side of the grass field to the east of the Wilder Mansion.
The Moving Wall is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which has traveled around the country for more than 40 years.
Regarding Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
2. Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial
David Burkes was killed in action in Long An Province on June 20, 1968, about two months before his 21st birthday. According to an article about his death in the Chicago Tribune, Burkes was a 1965 graduate of Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, and lived at 455 Avery Street in Elmhurst, about three miles south of this park. Before joining the military, he had been an electrician apprentice for his father, David Sr. Burkes is buried at Chapel Hill Gardens West Cemetery in Oakbrook Terrace, about 3½ miles south of Wilder Park.
Steve Churchill, 20, died of multiple fragmentation wounds on May 18, 1967, in Pleiku. He graduated from York Community High School in Elmhurst in 1965 and at the time of his enlistment he was living with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Boccio, at 809 N. Geneva Ave., about 3 miles northwest of here. Churchill is buried in Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside.
James Cummings was a 1963 graduate of York; while studying at Northern Illinois University in 1967, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Vietnam. He was killed on March 30, 1968, by fragments from a Viet Cong booby trap; he was 22 years old. The Chicago Tribune article about his death cites a letter he wrote to his grandparents in Oak Park, Illinois, five days prior to his death: "I
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
3. Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Wilder Mansion is in the background, about 75 yards to the west.
Lt. John H. Curtin, 24, died in Phu Yen Province on January 2, 1968, of mulitple fragmentation wounds while on patrol with the 173rd Airborne Division. According to the Chicago Tribune article about his death, Curtin graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. He lived at 349 Arlington in Elmhurst, less than a mile southeast of this memorial.
Marine Capt. John Vincent Francis died on February 10, 1970, when the helicopter he was traveling in malfunctioned and crashed to the ground, killing Francis and the 11 other men on the aircraft. Francis was 25 years old. An article about his death in the Chicago Tribune said that during two previous tours of duty in Vietnam (in 1966 and 1968), Francis had earned a Bronze Star for heroism and three Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in action. He graduated in 1962 from Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, and attended St. Norbert's College for three years before enlisting in the Marines in the spring of 1965.
Frank Kobor, 21, was an Army infantryman who was killed by small arms fire on July 3, 1969, in Binh Duong Province. A native of Chicago, he had married his wife, Mary, about two months earlier; Mary lived in Elmhurst at the time of his death. Based on public comments on Vietnam-related
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, September 13, 2024
4. Elmhurst Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Richard D. Krupa died in an airplane accident in Quang Tri Province on August 29, 1969. He was 26 years old. According to the Chicago Tribune article about his death, Krupa had graduated from John Carroll University in Cleveland and was studying law at Georgetown University before he joined the Marines. Krupa is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Thomas Jerome Leston was an infantryman killed by friendly fire on April 7, 1967, at age 20. A graduate of St. Procopius High School in Lisle, southwest of here, and Leston joined the Army in 1965. He is buried at Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Hillside.
Lt. Steven R. Major was killed on September 21, 1968, when the F-4B aircraft they were flying on a bomber run was hit by ground fire and the plane crashed in Phu Bai, killing Major and his crewmate, Capt. Robert F. Conley. According to the Chicago Tribune article about his death, Major was a radio intercept officer; his home address was 672 Saylor in Elmhurst. He left behind a widow named Sarah and appears to have been buried in Denton, Texas, at Roselawn Memorial Park.
Larry Ray Palmer died on September 10, 1967, of wounds suffered in battle in Quang Nam Province. According to the Southern Illinoisan newspaper, Cpl. Palmer was killed by an enemy explosive device. While many official documents list his hometown as Elmhurst and his obituary mentions several family members in the Chicago area, news reports from the time said his hometown was Anna, in far southern Illinois. He is buried not far from there in Lindsey Cemetery in McClure, Illinois, a village on the Mississippi River across from Cape Girardeau and 375 miles south of Elmhurst.
Staff Sergeant Lawrence Carroll Rose, 22, was killed by enemy rocket fire in Darlac Province on September 2, 1968. He graduated from York and attended the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point for two years before being drafted in 1967. Despite being engaged in fighting, his brother Donald told the Chicago Tribune that "he only wrote letters about the beauty of the land and the beauty of the cities." Rose is buried in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside.
Jack A. Schneider graduated from York and attended Western Illinois University before enlisting in the Marines in 1965. Schneider, 21, was killed on June 4, 1966, by an enemy explosive device near Nui Dat Son. According to a Chicago Tribune article about his death, Schneider's wife Karen was expecting their first child; at the time, she lived at 189 Virginia Street, a block east of Wilder Park. Schneider is buried in Mount Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst.
David Schulze was 20 years old when the UH-1D helicopter he was flying on as a gunner crashed in Quang Ngai Province on March 1, 1969, killing 9 of its 11 passengers. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
According to a Chicago Tribune article about his death, Kenneth Erwin Steinhebel graduated from York in 1967 and worked as a mailman for 10 months before being drafted into the Army. He was killed in a skirmish near Chu Chi on February 23, 1969, five days before his 21st birthday. He's buried in Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
Also see . . .
1. The Moving Wall official site. (Submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
2. Vietnam veteran spurs new look for Elmhurst memorial. A 2015 article about the (re-)discovery of Elmhurst's Vietnam Veterans Memorial and its new placement in Wilder Park. (Submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)
Credits. This page was last revised on April 28, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 624 times since then and 58 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 16, 2024, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.
