{"id":117735,"date":"2024-02-14T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=117735"},"modified":"2024-02-16T10:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T10:30:17","slug":"illinois-national-guard-honors-former-guardsman-abe-lincoln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=117735","title":{"rendered":"Illinois National Guard Honors Former Guardsman Abe Lincoln"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ql-editor\">\n<div class=\"editor-image single\">\n<figure class=\"photo cur-photo\">\n          <span class=\"centered-image\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"img-container\"><br \/>\n              <a class=\"rich-text-img-link\" href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2024\/02\/15\/57dc7783\/original.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>              <\/a><br \/>\n                          <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/span><figcaption>\n                        <span class=\"image-caption\"><br \/>\n              <span class=\"caption-text\"><br \/>\n                Brig. Gen. Mark Alessia delivers remarks at the tomb of President Abraham Lincoln Feb. 12, 2024, at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, after placing a wreath at Lincoln\u2019s Tomb on the 215th anniversary of birth.<br \/>\n                <span class=\"caption-author\"> (Photo Credit: Barbara Wilson)<\/span><br \/>\n              <\/span><br \/>\n              <a href=\"https:\/\/api.army.mil\/e2\/c\/images\/2024\/02\/15\/57dc7783\/original.jpg\" title=\"View original\" target=\"_blank\">VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a><br \/>\n            <\/span><br \/>\n          <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. &#8211; The Illinois National Guard recognized its most notable militiaman and 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, during a ceremony at his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery Feb. 12, the 215th anniversary of his birth.<\/p>\n<p>Army Brig. Gen. Mark Alessia, director of the Illinois National Guard Joint Staff, presented a wreath on behalf of President Joseph Biden as part of the 90th annual National American Legion Pilgrimage to his tomb.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn behalf of the men and women of the Illinois National Guard, it is an honor to participate in this ceremony today,\u201d Alessia said. \u201cAnd it is a privilege for us all to learn from the life, the deeds, the words, and the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alessia was carrying on a tradition that began in 1967 when President Lyndon Baines Johnson sent wreaths to be presented at the graves of his predecessors on their birthdays. Each year, wreaths of red, white and blue flowers are sent to the burial places of all deceased presidents on the anniversary of their birthday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbraham Lincoln\u2019s integrity, leadership and wisdom still permeates the fabric of our country 159 years after his death,\u201d Alessia said.<\/p>\n<p>Alessia told about 150 people who assembled for the ceremony that Lincoln has particular significance for the Illinois National Guard because he served as a captain in the Illinois State Militia during the Blackhawk War.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Guardsmen draw inspiration from Lincoln almost daily,\u201d Alessia said. \u201cThis is easy when you consider Lincoln served at the lowest levels of a military unit and at the very top as our commander in chief.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalguard.mil\/\" target=\"_blank\">For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheNationalGuard\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/usnationalguard\" target=\"_blank\">National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brig. Gen. Mark Alessia delivers remarks at the tomb of President Abraham Lincoln Feb. 12, 2024, at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, after placing a wreath at Lincoln\u2019s Tomb on the 215th anniversary of birth. (Photo Credit: Barbara Wilson) VIEW ORIGINAL SPRINGFIELD, Ill. &#8211; The Illinois National Guard recognized its most notable militiaman and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117737,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117738,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117735\/revisions\/117738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}