The Blue Water Area Fallen Heroes Community Banner Program is making its official debut in St. Clair County. The banner program was brought forward by members of the St. Clair County Allied Veterans Council (comprised of delegates representing 16 veteran posts throughout the county), the St. Clair County Department of Veteran Affairs, and an elite student leadership class project from Croswell – Lexington High School as a way to honor our community’s military service members that were killed in action. These county veteran posts and their members have a long-standing high regard for those who serve, have served, or were killed while serving, in the military. Their rich history is interwoven within the community. There were over 550 service members killed in action from World War One (WWI) to the current gulf war conflict who resided in cities/townships across St. Clair County. This banner program will help the community to continue to honor and remember those residents who were killed in action in the United States Armed Forces. They will be recognized one week prior to and a week after Memorial Day each year. Banners will be displayed on streetlight poles, near parks or other areas deemed as a memorials. These beautiful, patriotic banners will display a photograph of a service member, as well as his or her name, rank, branch of service, war conflict, and city in which they resided in St. Clair County. They will help to promote civic pride in our community. There are many cities across the country such as Waynesboro, Pennsylvania that this banner program is modeled after. “It’s a powerful message to enter Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, a small farming community, and see these banners when you least expect it,” said Ed Weichsler, U.S. Air Force, Veteran. We all have a role to play in the community banner program. There isn’t one role more important than the other, but the final result will speak volumes about us as a community. “This is a signature project for our department. We are a trusted resource in the veteran community. Working on this project gives us an opportunity to meet with community members who may not be aware of the services and resources we provide,” said Nancy Deising, Outreach Coordinator, St. Clair County Department of Veterans Affairs. Let’s face it, as a society, we all have at least a couple of shoe boxes of photographs on some obscure shelf, in some forgotten closet, or in the attic we ‘inherited’ from a deceased family member. It’s in these forgotten treasure troves of family history that many of the physical images of these fallen heroes may be found. To date, we have obtained over 85 photographs of local service members who were killed in action. If you have a family member and/or know of a friend or neighbor who was killed in action from WWI to this current date and they resided in St. Clair County, please contact Nancy Deising at ndeising@stclaircounty.org or call the banner program Hotline at (810) 985-2007 to arrange an appointment to get a photograph scanned. To learn more about the Blue Water Area Fallen Heroes Community Banner Program or make a donation, visit: http://www.stclairfoundation.org/funds/more/blue_water_fallen_heroes_community_banner_program_fund.
