By Bob Sofaly
When one arrives at AMVETS Post 70 in Port Royal, the first thing they now see are banners of “Hometown Heroes,” the brainchild of member John Patrick and Michelle Naar of the Lady’s Auxilliary of the Post.
Patrick said Naar contacted him about about the banner project. Patrick, a retired U.S. Army Colonel, said he had “nothing but time” and agreed to help out. So the two put their heads together and got permission to put up the flags on AMVETS property.
Naar said she would see these banners in other municipalities during her travels and thought it would be a great idea to start the project in Beaufort.
“My hope is that others will see ours and it will take off and Beaufort, Port Royal and the military commands in our area will adopt it as well,” she said.
“Anybody can buy one of the 18 x 36-inch banners for their military loved ones for $140, and that includes everything,” Patrick said. “All that is required is name, rank and serial number along with a photo of the service member and the branch they served in.”
Patrick added that the Home Town Hero doesn’t have to be military.
“As this project expands, we’ll open it up to (civilian) heroes as well,” he said. “They can be first responders too; fire fighters, EMS, and police are all heroes.”
He said that because the first banners will be posted on AMVETS’ property they decided to make it available to military members first.
Currently there are four flag poles, each flying four banners. There are also orders for eight more banners and requests for 20 more. Eventually, AMVETS will run out of room and “we’ll have to decide if want them out front and down the side walks,” Patrick said. “Eventually we hope to get the attention of Beaufort and Port Royal as well and the other military commands and get them going on board too.”
Naar and Patrick said neither they nor AMVETS receive any of the funds. All proceeds collected go straight into the cost of banners and poles, Naar said.
For more information about creating a banner for a family “Hometown Hero” one should call Jon Patrick at 703-728-2967.
