Naperville veteran wants to repair and replace graves of fallen soldiers

NAPERVILLE, Illinois (CBS) – A woman in western suburb Naperville is committed to preserving the legacy of veterans and took a month-long trip to honor local heroes.

Staci Boyer never met the fallen soldiers and veterans. Some of them died decades ago. But she will not let their dedication and sacrifice fade from her memory.

The recent Memorial Day reminded Boyer of her mission, which she began months ago at the Naperville Cemetery.

“Those who died to protect our freedoms, and that’s what we’re here to celebrate,” Boyer said. “That’s what Memorial Day is really about.”

She heads the local VFW and visits the cemetery often. They come every year on Memorial Day and place flags on all the veterans’ graves. The seasons have taken their toll on the stone grave markers which are weathered and worn.

“Some of these graves have been here for a very long time,” she said.

Some had even disappeared completely.

“It made me sad,” Boyer said. “I wish they had more than a flag on a pile of dirt.”

Each flag would be placed on the grave of a fallen service member or veteran. Some graves needed “a little TLC,” she said. Some service members were buried in the Land of Lincoln even before Honest Abe was president.

Boyer doesn’t want their names or their service to be forgotten, so she came up with a plan.

“My heart warms when I see these kinds of things happening,” she said.

Boyer thought the community could raise enough money to repair or replace headstones. She said she has gotten seven businesses and organizations to adopt graves of fallen heroes.

Rod Hiltz can barely read the letters on his uncle’s grave: “Edward W. Hiltz. Veteran of World War I.”

“It would be nice to read because this man was only one of seven from Naperville who died in France,” Hiltz said of his uncle. He wishes he could protect his uncle’s gravestone the way he protects his uniform, even though he never met him.

“I would have loved to see him at some point in my life, but it never happened,” Hiltz said.

Hiltz said he joined the Army because his uncle’s story inspired him.

Boyer served 12 years in the Navy as a medical orderly. She was stationed on the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship, during the Gulf War.

“I know for sure that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t been in the military,” she said.

Boyer believes it is her duty to restore military gravestones, starting with the marker for Edward Hiltz. But suddenly her mission hit a legal roadblock.

She needs permission from a family member to make changes to a gravestone, and Edward Hitler’s family is the only one she has found.

“That was the biggest obstacle, because we couldn’t find the right people,” Boyer said.

With nowhere else to turn, she asked a Marine for help: Democratic Rep. Stephanie Kifowit.

“Well, I think it was clear from the conversation with Staci that we needed to change the law,” Kifowit said.

Kifowit wanted to help.

In February, House Bill 4934 was on the books, and in early March, Boyer was in Springfield, eager to share her mission with a committee of lawmakers. The bill would allow VFWs and other veterans organizations to repair or replace 100-year-old veterans’ headstones without family permission.

“Thanks to HB 4934, we can now refurbish these graves as part of my Adopt a Veterans Grave project and honor them as they deserve,” Boyer told lawmakers.

The debate was much shorter than Boyer’s ride to the state Capitol in Springfield. The bill passed unanimously in committee.

When Memorial Day arrived, the bill was on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature.

“I know it’s going to be something fantastic,” Boyer said.

Students at Naperville North High School are raising money to replace Edward Hiltz’s gravestone, which was installed this week.

Click here for more information about Boyer’s Adopt a Veterans Grave Project.