Mayor Steve Hagerty will ask aldermen Monday to ease rules for placement of names on the Fountain Square war memorial.
Until now service members killed in combat had to have listed Evanston as their hometown on enlistment or commissioning documents to qualify for inclusion on the list of Evanston war dead.
Under Hagerty’s proposal a person killed in combat would also qualify who:
- Had lived in Evanston for at least five years, or
- Lived in Evanston during “some part of their life” and whose parent or guardian has lived in Evanston for at least 10 years.
The eligibility would also be expanded to those who “died in a war, a conflict, any hostilities, or on a humanitarian mission”
The expanded rules would only apply to service members killed after Jan. 1, 2003.
The proposal follows a lobbying campaign by Kenny Sutchar, who has sought to have the name of Marine Capt. Matthew Hays-Freeman, who was killed in action in Afghanistan, added to the memorial.
Hays-Freeman, whose parents divorced when he was young, spent time in Evanston with his father’s family, Sutchar, a family friend, says, but also lived in Richmond Hill, Georgia, with his mother’s family and listed that town as his hometown on his enlistment papers.
Update 10:50 a.m. 6/11/19: The mayors proposal was approved unanimously by the City Council Monday night.