Blue Island Hometown Heroes program to begin third year of honoring veterans

“Where do I start? I haven’t talked about him in quite a while — not that anyone has asked.”

Marjorie Schultz’s voice wavers with emotion as she remembers Jan. 31, 2008, the day her son, 1st Lt. David Schultz, died.

“He was killed by a bomb that they sent from the mountains over to the base where he was stationed in Iraq,” she recalls. “He was killed while he was in his office.”

The 72-year-old Tinley Park resident has spent 30 years of her life in Blue Island. For the past two years, the town where she raised David has allowed veterans and their families to recognize those who served through a program called Hometown Heroes.

In 2021, as newly elected Mayor Fred Bilotto took office in Blue Island, City Clerk Raeann Zylman began thinking about ways to honor the multitude of men and women from the town who served. A program called Hometown Heroes in Lansing caught her eye and she decided to pitch the city on a similar program.

Homeland Heroes allows the family and friends of veterans to hang banners around the city with their service member’s face, name and rank printed on the front. Bilotto says the resident pays only for the cost of the banner, which is $100, and the city uses taxpayer dollars to cover for the installation, which costs roughly $5,000 a year.

“We thought that the heroes need to be, you know, recognized in Blue Island,” Zylman says. “They had never been recognized like this before.”

Blue Island is a town of 21,700 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Being on the smaller side means most folks know one another. Bilotto grew up with Dave Schultz and remained close until his death. Schultz was a member of Bilotto’s wedding party.

“The city definitely wanted to show support to people in the military currently and those who served in the past,” says Bilotto. “We have a history of that in town.”

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Taking the connection even further, Zylman, who taught sixth through eighth grade in Blue Island for 35 years, had both Schultz and Bilotto as students.

The banners stay up for two years, but a resident can extend that by paying another $1,000. The program, which went live in 2022 and is now beginning its third year, has honored about 100 veterans with the 7-foot banners hung on light posts and in public buildings.

The third year of the program is kicking off now, as holiday decorations and lamp posters are replaced by images of local heroes.

David Schultz’s banner is a little different from most of the others. In the bottom right corner he has a designation noting he not only served, but also never made it home. He is survived by his wife and his child, who was a newborn baby when he was killed.

Now 16 years removed from his death, Marjorie says people don’t ask about David much anymore. The flags help keep him alive.

“I think it is very important that he is not forgotten. He grew up in that town. Blue Island was very special to him,” Marjorie says. “I think it’s important that his hometown always remembers him.”

hsanders@chicagotribune.com