One by one, row by row, 2,026 American flags were installed at Seven Gables Park in Wheaton Monday morning, transforming emerald green soccer fields into a sea of red, white and blue for the annual Wheaton Field of Honor.
About 80 volunteers, most dripping with sweat at the onset of a blistering heatwave, pounded rebar supports several feet apart in 800-foot-long rows, 25 in all, before placing the 8-foot-tall flagpoles.
Rudy Keller, who has organized the event for more than 20 years, said he never tires of the scene that grows by one flag each year.
“It’s an inspiration,” Keller said. “That’s the best way I can describe it. I truly appreciate what the flag stands for, and that a lot of people have made the ultimate sacrifice so we could do events like this.”
The display will be in place through the Fourth of July. An opening ceremony Tuesday evening starts at 6:30 p.m. and will include Honor Guards, vocalists and bagpipers, in addition to a flyover by the Lima Lima Flight Team.
Hosted by the Wheaton Park District and the Wheaton United Soccer Club, the presentation of flags fly in honor of veterans and active-duty military, loved ones, friends and neighbors. Tags attached to the 8-foot-tall flagpoles bear the names and often a message of remembrance.
Each flag is available to be sponsored for $30 and then taken home on July 4, with proceeds benefiting Warrenville VFW Post 8081.
“Obviously, the field of flags is beautiful,” Keller said. “But what is more beautiful is that each flag represents a person.”
Over the course of a few hours on Monday, the volunteers put up the flags in a meticulous grid created by a satellite-enabled robot provided by V3 Companies.
Grant Van Bortel, a project manager with V3, also brought about a dozen volunteers from the company to help hammer rebar and put up flags. The Wheaton resident said he first encountered the field a few years ago on a run and quickly volunteered his company’s help.
“It was one of the best runs I’ve ever had,” he said. “You can’t help but feel patriotic when you’re in it.”
Kevin Beck, of Wheaton, and his 13-year-old son Doug said they’d visited and purchased flags for years, but decided to volunteer this year in honor of the America250 celebration.
“Just trying to teach him the lessons I was taught as a kid,” Beck said. “There’s an immense sense of pride this week leading up to the Fourth, so to be able to be a part of this is huge.”
The event takes about half a year of planning, said Keller, a retired school principal. Work really kicked into high gear a couple of months ago and involves about 200 volunteers.
Keller spends about 18 hours a day at the field site the week before and during the event.
“It’s very cool to be part of this because of the way it makes people feel,” he said. “And the enthusiasm of all the volunteers that come out, even in this heat, keeps it from ever getting old.”
