Sergeant 1st Class Gary J. Vasquez

Historical marker location:

2548 Veterans Memorial Pkway, Highland, Illinois

( Memorial is on Veterans Memorial Parkway south of Trestle Road, on the right when traveling north.)

Operation Enduring Freedom. 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

Illinois was part of the French colonial empire, and the city of Cahokia, located near present-day Collinsville, was one of the largest pre-Columbian cities in North America. At its peak, around 1250 CE, Cahokia had a population of around 20,000 people.