Post 7186 Continues Memorial Day Participation Tradition
Chicago Tribune - Local News
By Shun Graves | For the Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: May 26, 2026 at 1:51 PM CDT | UPDATED: May 26, 2026 at 4:35 PM CDT
“On Memorial Day in Evanston, a meditation on sacrifice and unity”
Commander Brian Beatty of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7186 speaks to more than a hundred people assembled at Fountain Square in Evanston on Monday, May 25, 2026. “As you sit on the beach, leave a space to remember their service,” Beatty told the Memorial Day crowd. (Shun Graves/for Pioneer Press)
For the many Evanston residents about to savor the year’s most beautiful day yet, the Monday morning ceremony downtown reminded them that they would not have enjoyed it without the sacrifices of those who came before.“I know the sentiment is to say ‘happy Memorial Day,’” Commander Brian Beatty, of Evanston’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7186, told the crowd. “I will tell you that it should be ‘blessed Memorial Day.’”More than 100 people, many preferring the shade of the trees on the edges of Fountain Square, gathered there to honor the members of the armed forces who died in service.They heard messages like Beatty’s, which listed the number of U.S. service member deaths in wars throughout history. He also mentioned the number of global deaths in the two world wars, civilians and combatants, and the sheer millions elicited some gasps from the audience.He listed the names of some of those fallen service members he knew.“As you sit on the beach, leave a space to remember their service,” Beatty said. “It wasn’t in vain.”
Members of American Legion Post 42 perform a rifle salute at the Memorial Day ceremony in Evanston on Monday, May 25, 2026. Their shots rang out across the street from the crowd at Fountain Square. (Shun Graves/for Pioneer Press)