Locals Veterans Day ceremonies honor those who've served

McHenry Middle School sixth-grader Kendra Katsafados, 11, salutes during a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the start of a Veterans Day assembly in the school's gym Tuesday afternoon. Though she knows no veterans personally, Katsafados expressed her respect for men and women who have served. "I'm very thankful they served our country -- I honor and respect them very much," she said. In addition to a brief slide presentation describing the history of the federal holiday as well as performances by the school's Flute Choir and the 7th- and 8th grade Chorus, McHenry American Legion 491 members Roger Lasko and Ervin Gall spoke to the large group of kids about their own experiences in the military. (Valerie Tobias photo)

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McHENRY – Howard Lexow, 79, spent Tuesday morning meticulously passing out ribbon-shaped flag pins to everyone at the McHenry Veterans of Foreign War Hall. He was at one of the many Veterans Day ceremonies throughout the community. Although it’s been more than six decades since he joined the Army at 16 years old in 1946, Lexow's memories of the experience remain vivid. The first thing that he recalls is his experience traveling on a ship that collected dead bodies – 5,300 of them. In the aftermath of World War II, Lexow said he didn’t realize how awful the duties were until one day, as a cook on the ship, he was assigned to taking food to the morticians. “I had never seen a dead body in my life,” he said. “It was a shock to me at 17 [years old]. I said, ‘Get somebody else’ to do this.” As they traveled the Pacific Coast, they collected bodies from various countries. “There was a lot of caskets,” Lexow said. “It was really something to see.” He said it was important that people didn’t forget to honor veterans. “Unless you’ve served, you don’t really know what it’s like,” he said. “Life and death is every day when you’re in the service, but you’re doing your job.” Marine Bryan Broyles, 19, has served only a few months but already understands that it’s different from anything else in life. He spent the afternoon revealing to seventh-graders at Parkland Junior High School what goes on at basic training. “I don’t know the exact count of how many push-ups I did, but it was a lot,” he said. “It wasn’t that bad physically for me, but other guys struggled a lot.” The McHenry resident is on leave and goes back Nov. 25 for three more weeks of training. He said he was excited to see where the experience of being a Marine takes him. “I love this country and fighting for people who can’t fight,” he said.  McHenry Middle School also held an all-school assembly in honor of the holiday.  Students sang "God Bless America" and veterans Ervan Gall and Roger Lasko spoke to the students about their service. Lisa Holm, an eighth-grader at the school, said she was glad that she got hear their stories. “I thought it was really cool how they came [and] hearing how they helped us,” she said. As for Lexow, he said he didn't regret his time in the Army. After serving from 1946-49, he also served in the Korean War from 1952-54. "It was quite an education touring around," he said. "I would do it again in a minute." 0