Tinley Park Village Clerk and retired Gen. Pat Rea listens to speeches at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza named in his honor at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Members of the Lincoln-Way North Air Force JROTC salute the colors at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Members of the branches of military salute the colors at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Tinley Park Village Clerk and retired Gen. Pat Rea listens to speeches at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza named in his honor at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Gary and Karen Berner, of New Lenox, were part of a group from St. George's class of 1961 honoring their veterans at the dedication ceremony for the Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Antonia Kubas, 9, of Frankfort, uses the Department of the Army memorial to block the wind while attending the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Major David Waters, executive officer of the Infantry Battalion (4th Infantry Division), speaks about the influence Patrick Rea had on his life at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Plaques on the entrance to Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza named in the honor of Village Clerk and retired Gen. Pat Rea at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Village Clerk and retired Gen. Pat Rea (right) talks with Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza named in Rea's honor at the 80th Avenue Metra station. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki speaks at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Jerry Grohn holds the Korean War veterans flag tightly as the wind blows leaves while he sits on the Tinley Park American Legion Post 615 bench following the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun-Times Media

Paramedics attend to a Korean War veteran at the dedication ceremony of Gen. Patrick E. Rea Veterans Plaza at the 80th Avenue Metra station in Tinley Park, Illinois, Sunday, November 11, 2012. | Joseph P. Meier~Sun Times Media