Peotone American Legion Post 392 will remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in a Memorial Day program on Monday, May 25.

The program will begin with a parade at 10 a.m. that day; line-up will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Legion, 109 E. North St, Peotone. The Color Guard will lead the parade, followed by Peotone American Legion Post 392, Peotone Legion Auxiliary Members, Scouts, friends, neighbors and patriots.

The parade will lead to Peotone Cemetery, where Brian C. Thompson, will speak.

Thompson is the son of Brian A. Thompson of Peotone and Caren Thompson of Matteson. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he served five years, including time as an air traffic controller at Miramar in San Diego, where he met his wife, Jodi, who is also a US Marine. She also enlisted following the 9/11 attacks.

He then volunteered to deploy to Okinawa, Japan, and spent time on training missions in Okinawa, Philippines, and Korea. He separated from the US Marine corps in 2007 as a Sergeant of Marines, being
awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.

Once separated from the Marine Corps, he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. While his wife was completing her nursing degree at Olivet Nazarene, Thompson was hired by Canadian National Railway as a Rail Traffic Controller in 2011.

He now is serves as Senior Delivery Manager, working on the projects to design and deploy the Canadian Dispatch System, covering approximately 14,000 route miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

He and Jodi, who just celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, live in Peotone with their two children, Kailey, 14, and Andi, 13, who are involved in Peotone High School and Jr. High School sports, volleyball and cross country. Jodi and Kailey also are members of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary Post 392.

A free community fish fry at the Legion will follow the program at the cemetery back at the Legion Hall and participants are asked to bring a dish to pass.