By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The first memorial service was held at the Veterans Memorial downtown Niles on Sunday afternoon, to honor those men and women who have served in the military and given their life for this country.
The keynote speaker at the service was outgoing Niles Police Chief John Street, who is himself a Vietnam veteran.
In his address Street spoke of how the most important people at the ceremony are the men and women who have lost their lives, in the name of their country.
Street added here in the United States we have many freedoms people in other countries don't even know about. You don't see drivers from the Middle East in a race like the Indy 500, because they aren't allowed freedoms such as driving race cars by their government.
Street added that on 9/11, our country was attacked and this weekend 911 cadets graduated from Westpoint.
Lou Liebetrau of Niles, who helped to make the memorial a reality, also spoke at the event.
Liebetrau added that one of the people who she worked closely with on the project was John McLaughlin former commander of the Legion Post 26 of Niles. Seeing as how they were both getting up there in age they promised each other, if one of them were to not make it to see the finished product, the other would be there to represent them at the ceremony."
Liebetrau added that the veterans memorial and this service never would have been possible if it weren't for people like John Street, Ray Philips, John McLaughlin and the other committee members who worked countless hours to make this become a reality.