Column: Tom McDade, a Park Forest developer, landed on Utah Beach on D-Day
For those of us of a certain generation, June 6 has a special meaning. It is and will always be D-Day, the day American and British forces stormed the beaches of France during World War II.
As in past years, there will be few if any public memorials commemorating the events that took place that day 81 years ago. It was only one of numerous historic events that took place in four-plus years of worldwide conflict
Casualties were high. Some 2,501 Americans were killed and allied forces suffered about 10,000 casualties. Estimates show some 5,000 Allied troops were wounded with German casualties to have been between 4,000 and 9,000.
There are, however, strong links between the fighting on the beaches that day in June and the development of Park Forest, a 'G.I. Town' built to house returning veterans from the war.
One is the story of Tom McDade. The other two are the vial of sand I see every day and the flag honoring the man.
No one knows how many D-Day veterans lived in Park Forest, but one who did, Tom McDade helped forge an unbreakable connection between those two points on the map.
McDade was born in Scotland, and along with his family emigrated to Hillsboro, Illinois when he was 5 years old. He was 29 when Pearl Harbor was bombed Dec. 7, 1941.
He was part of the 4th Infantry Division which landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day. After the war he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina, did graduate work at the University of Chicago and worked for the Chicago Housing Authority before joining Urban Investments and Development.
The company was headed by Philip Klutznick, the man who helped reshape an old golf course and vacant farmland into a new kind of community called Park Forest.
McDade was a jack-of-all-trades, including taking charge of all the rental units. Trying to keep tenants happy was never an easy task. Klutznick wrote in his book, 'Angles of Vision,' that Tom invested himself in the village, living in the young community while at the same time in charge of planning and development both as a trouble shooter for the company and as a social conscience. He often directed funds from the company to worthy organizations and corporations.
He may not have been the only D-Day veteran who came to Park Forest, but once said that no matter where he lived, his heart never left the community.
Later in life, Tom and his second wife, Mignon, lived in a Lake Shore Drive apartment overlooking Lake Michigan. But when he retired in 1985, he moved back to a more modest abode in Park Forest, moving into a house on Lakewood Boulevard when its former owner, Mayor Mayer Singerman, left town.
He was never a company man. He was always a local in his heart.
Never one to test the water temperature with his toes, McDade jumped headfirst into the pool of community life. It was as if he never left town as he renewed his interest in all phases of village life, including a stint on the board of the Park Forest Historical Society.
When he was inducted into the Park Forest Hall of Fame three years after his death in 1992, his widow said, 'you could take him out of Park Forest, but not Park Forest out of him.'
We made the trip to the Normandy beaches nearly 30 years ago and came home with a lasting memory.
This was a time before our cameras were part of our cellphones, and when people needed to load film in their cameras in order to snap a photograph. On my desk, there sits a plastic container which once stored such a film roll. Inside there are a few thousand grains of sand from Omaha Beach.
I see it every day. It sits in front of a folded flag given to his wife, my wife's mother. I see both and I remember.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
10 hours ago
- Boston Globe
The Battle of Bunker Hill rages again -- in Gloucester
Spectators also will be able to interact with the military reenactors, as well as hundreds of 'civilian' interpreters who will depict the hardships of everyday life in the besieged town of Boston at the time of the battle. Organizers chose The spectators 'will get a very good look at what Advertisement Narrators using a sound system will describe the events in context for the audience as they unfold. A slightly compressed version of the reenactment will be staged Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. 'We'll follow the script of what already happened historically,' said Dietzel, 37, of Bridgewater. 'We have people coming from all over the country, a few coming from Canada, and a few British coming from the UK' to portray the combatants. Advertisement Although Bunker Hill technically was a British victory, the Colonial troops inflicted massive casualties on the British, who were forced to mount three assaults on the Americans' hilltop fortifications before the rebels ran out of ammunition and retreated. The British lost 1,054 killed and wounded in the battle, the first pitched conflict of the American Revolution. The Colonials suffered 450 casualties, but gained the morale-boosting confidence that they could stand and fight a disciplined army with superior numbers. 'Reenactments make history come alive in a way that you don't really get from the textbooks,' said Annie Harris, chief executive officer of the Essex National Heritage Area, one of the event's organizers. 'It was a more significant battle than many of us realize,' Harris said. 'You think about the Battle of Bunker Hill, and you see the obelisk [in Charlestown], and you don't really think much about it.' The reenactment includes what Dietzel described as a series of battle vignettes interspersed throughout the day, beginning with the approach of several ships posing as troop-bearing British naval vessels toward Half Moon Beach in Gloucester beginning about 8 a.m. Saturday. From 9 to 10 a.m., the rebels will build their redoubt, or hilltop fortification, with period hand tools. Spectators are encouraged to join the soldiers as they assemble their defenses, and to learn about their 18th-century backgrounds and motivation to take up arms against the British. From 10 to 11 a.m., British reenactors will land on Half Moon Beach. From about 1 to 2 p.m., they are scheduled to make a flanking attack on Cressy Beach. British commanders ordered this flanking move as their marines made a frontal assault on the redoubt. Advertisement The coordinated attacks were unsuccessful, as was a following frontal assault. Only on the third assault, which will be staged about 4 p.m. Saturday, did the British break through and claim victory atop Breed's Hill, the Charlestown summit where the battle actually occurred. 'If we wanted to keep this exactly right, we'd have to burn a city,' which the British did to Charlestown, 'but we can't do that,' Dietzel said with a chuckle. Dietzel said he feels honored to be able to portray Warren, a key Revolutionary figure whom he has researched extensively. 'I've been reading biographies, letters from the Massachusetts Historical Society, and attending lectures. I've been in the weeds with this man for quite some time,' Dietzel said. The goal of the reenactment, which has been years in the making, is to convey the relevance of the battle to 21st-century Americans. 'We want to make sure we do justice to this event and help share a story that's important to us all,' Dietzel added. 'I told my third-grade teacher I wanted to be a Minute Man. It's been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember.' Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at
American Press
11 hours ago
- American Press
Joseph 'Joe' Julius LeDoux Sr.
Msg. Joseph Julius LeDoux Sr. (Retired), 84, passed away peacefully with his family by him. Born and raised in Pine Island, La., Joe was a hunter and fisherman helping to provide for his family, but hunting was his passion. Joe went on to enlist in the United States Army. He and some buddies, while stationed in New York, went out on a blind date one night and that is where he met a 'YANKEE' name Phyllis, who later became his wife for 65 years. They faced wonderful times and turbulent times, but their marriage vows were seared into the hearts of each of them. Joe and Phyllis raised three great children. He enjoyed sharing history with his family, he and his family traveled to locations of American History. Joe Spent 22 years in the military in some form or fashion with active service and reserves. On Sept. 11, when the country was attacked, Joe was in a room with others at the Pentagon where they left that room approximately 20 minutes before the plane flew into the Pentagon, into that very room. Joe is survived by his wonderful wife, Phyllis LeDoux; a daughter, Kim Marie Garland; two sons, Joseph Julius LeDoux II and Dale Anthony LeDoux; four sisters, Shirley Shaw, Jane Ruff, Juanita Ardoin, and Veronica LeBlanc; sister-in-law, Laura LeDoux; two grandchildren, Kyle LeDoux and Haley LeDoux; six great-grandchildren, Cooper, Tiffani, Brittany, Joanna, Camilla, and Michael; four great-great-grandchildren, Tyreek, Arriana, Brandon, and Brianna. Preceding him in death is his sister, Anna Faul; three brothers, Paul LeDoux, James LeDoux, and John LeDoux; grandson, Michael Garner, and his parents, Eugene and Hannah LeDoux. The family will welcome relatives and friends on Monday, June 23, 2025 at Hixson Funeral Home of Lake Charles beginning at 4 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. with a rosary to prayed at 5 p.m. Visitation will resume on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at 11 a.m. until the procession leaves for the church at 2 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Our Lady Queen of Heaven at 2:30 p.m. Burial will follow at Pine Island Cemetery. Msgr. Daniel Torres will officiate at the services. The family would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Heart of Hospice and the family and friends who assisted with Joe's care. Please leave fond memories for the LeDoux family at
Vox
11 hours ago
- Vox
5 reasons to be grateful for air conditioning
is a senior editorial director at Vox overseeing the climate teams and the Unexplainable and The Gray Area podcasts. He is also the editor of Vox's Future Perfect section and writes the Good News newsletter. He worked at Time magazine for 15 years as a foreign correspondent in Asia, a climate writer, and an international editor, and he wrote a book on existential risk. A You're Hot, Stay Cool sign with an AC unit and fan posted to a street light during a heat wave on 86th Street in Manhattan, New York. Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Lee Kuan Yew, the iron-willed founder of modern Singapore, was once asked what the most important invention of the 20th century was. He didn't say penicillin, which has saved over 500 million lives, or the nuclear bomb, which has shaped geopolitics like nothing before. He didn't even say TV! Instead, Lee had a simple two-word answer: 'Air conditioning.' Without air conditioning, Singapore, where temperatures regularly reach into the 90s with tropical humidity levels, would never have developed from a tiny city-state with a per-capita GDP that was a third of Western Europe's in 1960 to one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Air conditioning is as essential to the modern world as the internet itself. But like the internet, A/C gets a bad rap. Cooling already eats up 10 percent of global electricity, and demand from air conditioners is expected to triple by 2050 without tougher energy efficiency standards. Many units still use refrigerant gases that produce a planetary warming effect that is thousands of times that of a similar amount of CO2. Air conditioning is also a physical manifestation of the energy gap between the rich who can afford it, and the poor who must sweat. It has enabled the development of energy-intensive cities in places where humans just shouldn't live, like Phoenix. Fundamentally, A/C is seen by some as an unnecessary luxury, a prime example of a 'harmful habit of consumption,' as Pope Francis once put it. I get the point. It seems morally wrong for so many of us to use a device that contributes about 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — only so we can escape the effects of that warming. Related The air conditioning paradox But 'seems' is not the same as 'is.' Air conditioning has become far more than a luxury. So on this, the second day of summer, when the East Coast is about to be enveloped by a truly suffocating wave of heat and humidity, I offer five reasons why we should be grateful for air conditioning. It saves lives Heat isn't just uncomfortable. It's dangerous, killing more Americans in a typical year than any other form of extreme weather. Access to air conditioning can mean the difference between life and death. Seven hundred and thirty-nine people died in the great Chicago heat wave of 1995, but having a working air conditioner reduced the risk of death by 80 percent. Another study looked at cities in multiple countries between 1972 and 2009 and found that more air conditioning helped reduce excess heat deaths. As a 2021 review in the Lancet explained it, air conditioning 'is set to become the most prevalent strategy worldwide for coping with hot weather and heat extremes.' And while only about 8 percent of the 2.8 billion people living in the world's hottest regions have A/C at home, that's an argument for closing the A/C gap — not an argument against the very real value of air conditioning. It keeps us working If you struggle to concentrate when the heat and humidity is high, you're not alone. One study looked at office work and found that productivity begins to decline around 73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, while at 86°F, performance falls by almost 9 percent. Another study found that every 1 degree increase in average classroom temperature over a school year corresponded to a roughly 1 percent loss in students' expected learning — but installing air conditioning eliminates about three-quarters of that effect. As temperatures continue to increase, the importance of air conditioning in schools and businesses will only grow. A 2016 working paper finds that widespread adoption of air conditioning — especially by the most productive plants — substantially offsets the heat-induced drop in US manufacturing output, making cooling a critical adaptation tool. It helps us sleep The more we learn about sleep, the more important it appears to be — and keeping cool is a key part of a decent night's sleep. Humans fall asleep fastest around 64–68°F, while temperatures above 75°F cause vital deep sleep and REM sleep to crater. A 2024 review of more than 50 lab and field studies found that bedroom cooling increased total sleep time 15 to 20 minutes and cut the total amount of time people spent awake after falling asleep by a third. It's given us everything from the movies to microchips Do you like going to the movie theater to catch a summer blockbuster? Well, you can thank air conditioning — before its invention, movie attendance always dropped during the hot summer months. It's no coincidence that the first public air conditioner was installed in a cinema, New York's Rivoli Theater, in 1925. But maybe you prefer to take in your movies in the comfort of your own home? Well, producing the microchips that go into your streaming TV or smartphone requires total precision in temperature control and humidity. In short: no A/C, no microchips. It lets millions live and travel where they want Look, my negative feelings about living in red-hot metros like Phoenix are a matter of public record. But I am clearly in the minority: Americans love to live in hot places. Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, added 1.2 million people between 2013 and 2023, more than any other county — and 96 percent of the new housing built to absorb those new residents comes with A/C. What US cities like Phoenix or Houston or Atlanta have in common with Singapore and Hong Kong is that none of them would exist as anything like they are today without the widespread use of air conditioning. Before A/C, the American South was mired in poverty, far behind the rest of the country. After A/C, the South more than caught up, and the otherwise uninhabitable Southwest became a magnet for people. If you think it's good that people can choose from a wider spectrum of places — and I do — A/C is one of the main reasons why that's possible. Air conditioning as it exists today is far from perfect. But it's also necessary, especially in an ever-warming world. What we need is not less air conditioning — unless you happen to work at an office where they keep the temperature at 60°F — but better air conditioning, with more efficient units powered by cleaner electricity. If you want to go without A/C, go right ahead (though I probably won't be visiting your house in the summer anytime soon). But either way, it should be a choice. A version of this story originally appeared in the Good News newsletter. Sign up here!
