April 11, 2021
Dear editor;
Since opening in 1999, the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery (ALNC), in Elwood, 11 miles south of Joliet, more than 60,000 brave men, women, and family members have been honorably buried there.
This hallowed ground should remain as is and the integrity and serenity must be respected forever. But, some do not believe or respect it because they have desecrated many veterans’ grave sites by driving over them with their semi-trucks.
If the NorthPoint project is to be completed, the Veterans Administration estimates the East-West truck traffic will increase by an estimated 5,000 trucks per day. It will increase the noise and air pollution for not only ALNC, but the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. It greatly will interfere with the flow of funeral processions and the solemn last respect service being held by the mourners.
This disrespectful disruption will ruin the tranquility and honor of this hallowed ground.
The V.A. is concerned the truckers will continue to use the back gate entrance thinking it is a shortcut to IL-53 or by missing the proposed bridge they would turn on to HoffRoad and illegally come through ALNC which already occurs on a weekly basis. The peacefulness of these federal grounds must be maintained and an alternative solution presented for approval.
Allan Lynch, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, has strong support from all over Illinois for the “Stop NorthPoint” lawsuit.
Respectfully,
Anthony Cella, Commander, American Legion Post 489, Yorkville