Southland residents share what the Fourth of July means to them, plans for celebration
Maria Halushka, a Ukranian refugee living in Palos Heights, said this Fourth of July she feels even more appreciative of the United States offering her a safe place to live and work while the war in Ukraine continues.
Army veteran David Young, of Park Forest, said the Independence Day honors the birth of our nation as the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, as the formal separation from Great Britain.
Maria Rosario Velasco, of Joliet, who became a U.S. citizen a week before the Fourth of July, said she’s excited to celebrate the holiday for the first time as an American citizen.
Halushka lived in Sambir, Ukraine, a small town near the Polish border, but came to the United States March 28 to escape the war and find better opportunities, said the Rev. Vasyl Sendeha, priest at Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Palos Park, who helped translate the interview.
Over the last few months, Halushka has lived with her sister in Palos Heights and works at a flower shop in Orland Park, she said. Her mother and boyfriend stayed in Ukraine, she said, and her boyfriend serves in the Ukrainian Army.
Halushka said her sister told her about the Fourth of July holiday and compared it to Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 24, which commemorated the country’s 1991 Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union.
In Ukraine, Aug. 24 celebrations are similar to the Fourth of July with people having the day off from work, firework displays and concerts, she said.
This year, Halushka said she will spend the Fourth with her sister and her sister’s family. It is bittersweet, Halushka said, to celebrate the independence of the country that gave her refuge while her home country is war torn.
“She feels happy for Americans that they have this holiday, that they’re celebrating freedom, and she’s blessed and thankful to the United States for giving her place and shelter,” Sendeha said. “But she misses Ukraine and her people very much. She wishes that the time will come that Ukraine will celebrate renewed Independence Day, free from war, free from enemy, free from anger.”
Young, 64, said he served in the Army from 1975 to 1982. He joined the Army because six of his cousins fought in the Vietnam War, with two of them killed in combat. Young also said some of his aunts and uncles served in World War II, an uncle served in Korean War, and his grandfather served in World War I.
“We’ve been a military serving family all through that time. It just felt part of my duty,” he said.
Young said he will celebrate this year in Naperville with his family, but cautioned it is important to be safe and careful with fireworks and to remember that the sounds of fireworks could be triggering for veterans.
“If you have a veteran who lives in your area, please have a little respect about the fireworks because it could bring back some very hard memories for some of the guys. They’ve gone through quite an ordeal and they don’t need to be gun shocked into remembering that,” he said.
Velasco said she came to the U.S. from Mexico 14 years ago, and she works at the Vilaseca Josephine Center in Joliet as a teacher’s aide, according to David Flores, New Americans initiative director for the Spanish Community Center.
After 10 months of studying and preparation, Velasco became a citizen June 27, she said. Velasco said she’s proud of how far she’s come and looks forward to celebrating her first Fourth of July as a citizen.
“She’s very excited to participate in her first Fourth of July, and she’s also happy to have the rights, now that she’s fully a U.S. citizen,” Flores said.
Velasco said she plans to spend the day with family and then go see fireworks. She said she looks forward to celebrating more Independence Days and other American holidays as a citizen.
“She feels like she’s a part of the U.S. now,” Flores said.
