I am the son of a proud World War II veteran, Squad Leader Sgt. Albert J. Onesti, #36682557, Unites States Army, 179th Infantry, 45th Division "Thunderbirds" -- with battles in Rome, Southern France, Anzio. My hero. For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in the building my grandparents settled in upon their emigration from Italy in 1911.

It was also the home where my dad was born, in the Taylor Street neighborhood of Chicago where he and a bunch of his 18-year-old buddies were drafted into military service. That was 20 years before I came into this world, but even then there were still many windows sporting those rectangular service flags, with their red trim, white field and blue star in the middle, representing a soldier from that household in battle.