Pritzker joins Gold Star Families for tree lighting ceremony to honor…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) – Gold Star Families gathered at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on Monday for a Christmas tree lighting ceremony adorning it with ornaments.

But the ornaments on the tree, representing 349 service members, hold sentimental value showing the names of family members who died while serving this country.

“It is just one small way for us to say you’re still with us and you always will be,” Terry Prince, the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, said.

A Gold Star Family is one that’s lost an immediate family member in the line of duty of military service. Gay Eisenhauer is one of those families. Her son, Cavalry Scout Pfc. Wyatt Eisenhauer, served in Iraq and died after being hit by an IED.

“Your fallen hero’s name is going to be read by people that didn’t have any clue who they were but when they walk away, there will be names off of that tree that they remember that they read and that…