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Chicago Tribune
7 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
La Grange hero's legacy lives as story of American Legion post namesake is shared with new generations
On February 1, 1943, a 28-year-old graduate of Lyons Township High School was scheduled to relax on one of his rare days off as an Army Air Corps bomber pilot in the European Theater during World War II. But one of the pilots scheduled to fly that day was sick, and someone had to take his place. So he volunteered. That selfless act cost Major Robert E. Coulter Jr. his life. He's memorialized in the name of La Grange's Robert E. Coulter Jr. American Legion Post 1941, but Bill Kiddon, post commander, wants to make sure the story of his heroism isn't lost to the passage of time. 'Probably the first generation or two of legionnaires know of his story,' Kiddon said during a May 22 presentation to the La Grange Area Historical Society. 'But today's generation of legionnaires don't know this story.' Kiddon spoke for 45 minutes to about 50 people at the Historical Society's Vial House Museum, 444 S. La Grange Road. The presentation included footage of air combat between American B-17s and Luftwaffe fighters filmed by an embedded Air Corps journalist. The recording included the scene of a badly damaged bomber plummeting to the ground as two parachuted flyers escape. Coulter attended Ogden Avenue School and graduated from Lyons Township High School two years ahead of his sister. He went on to earn an engineering degree from Purdue University. Kiddon related how Coulter, in October 1942, was among the first pilots to fly unescorted bombing missions, because the fighter planes at the time didn't have the fuel capacity to accompany long range bombing missions. He logged 25 missions, a marker used by the Army when pilots could be relieved of active duty. But Coulter refused to rotate out of combat. He flew 35 missions in all, bombing Nazi submarine pens, destroying a Nazi U-boat base, and leading critical bombing missions in North Africa that helped prevent the Nazis from seizing critical oil fields. 'On February 1, 1943, he was not supposed to fly that day,' Kiddon said. 'When he got down to the briefing room, he found out there was another pilot that didn't get out of the infirmary and couldn't fly. He was grounded that day, so Coulter volunteered. He said 'I'll go up.'' After completing a successful bombing run over North Africa. Coulter's plane was hit head on by a Messerschmitt Me 109. While nobody will ever know what caused the Luftwaffe pilot to steer directly into the formation, the collision ripped off one of the bomber's wings, causing it to spiral downward in flames. Three crew members — the bombardier, navigator and gunner — parachuted to safety and wound up in a German prisoner of war camp. It wasn't until August, 1943 that the wreckage of the B-17 was found just off the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea. It wasn't until then that Coulter's family got the telegram dreaded by so many families during the war, that their son was no longer missing in action, but killed in action. Coulter wasn't the only family member to contribute to the war effort. His father, a member of the Federal Reserve, was involved in the war bond drive. His mother wrapped bandages for the Red Cross and then became chairperson of Red Cross fundraising and his sister married another pilot. 'It was a family of service,' Kiddon said. 'They all pitched in — not unusual for the Greatest Generation.' Kiddon noted that Coulter was keenly aware of world affairs in the late 1930s as Nazis rose to power in Germany. 'He told his parents 'we're going to war,' and wound up enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1939, around the same time Hitler invaded Poland,' Kiddon said. 'He was trained to be a pilot in Texas, and ultimately flew the famous B-17 Flying Fortress.' Within three years, Coulter was piloting a B-17 in Europe. As was the custom in those days, Coulter's plane had what came to be called 'nose art' on the front of the plane. His was 'Bat Outta Hell.' Kiddon stressed that the story of Coulter, and all the other pilots in the war, was also a story about the B-17 Flying Fortress and the challenges that came with serving in one. 'This was not a pressurized airplane,' Kiddon said. 'At 25,000 feet, it was 10 below zero; at 35,000 feet, it's 40 below zero. And this plane flew at 35,000-feet, with no bathrooms and no heat.' Kiddon said the Boeing Company built 12,700 B-17s during the war — at its peak, averaging 16 per day — and roughly 80% of the warbirds were built by women. Among those listening to the presentation were Tim and Kathy Calvert, who found out they live in the former Coulter family home on North Waiola Avenue. 'We were traveling and came home and somebody had left an article on our front porch,' Kathy said. 'If you go up our stairs, up to the attic — we have a walk-up attic — the initials R.E.C. are carved into the side,' Tim said 'It's kind of an honor to live there.' Robert Coulter's niece, Bonnie Williams, born six weeks after he died, was on hand to share family memories. 'It affects the whole family, the whole community, everybody who knew him, when somebody dies like this,' she said. Her uncle's legacy always resonated in their family. 'When they spoke of him, they spoke of all the wonderful memories,' she said. 'There was never any sadness or remorse or regret. They were very proud of him. I can't imagine losing a son, but it was a different time. He was a good person.' But even for Coulter's family, the efforts of Kiddon and the American Legion to keep his legacy alive are essential. 'To put it all together brought the whole thing to life, things that we didn't know,' Williams said. 'I learned more last year when he did the first presentation than I ever knew about it.'
Chicago Tribune
20-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
$45 million bond issue in Western Springs would fund infrastructure projects
Voters in Western Springs will be asked to approve a $45 million bond issue in the April 1 Consolidated General Election, funding village officials hope to have available to complete projects addressing aging infrastructure such as sanitary and storm sewers, water mains, roadways, sidewalks and street lighting. Village officials are hopeful the referendum will be successful. 'We're already doing engineering for some projects, projects that we've jumped ahead because we know that we need to do them,' said Casey Biernacki, deputy village manager. 'One project in particular is Woodland Avenue.' That project addresses roadway, drainage, sewer and service line work planned along the Woodland from Burlington Avenue to 47th Street. Biernacki indicated that if the bonds are approved, the village would start engineering on some projects fairly soon, but 'actually using bond funds, I would probably say 2026 would be when we'd first start spending … potentially late 2025.' The debt repayment time frame for the bonds, including interest, would be between 17 and 20 years; the total amount of the bonds issued would have to be used in 7 to 10 years. The language of the referendum question stipulates that the interest shall be no higher than 7%. One factor in the village's favor, officials said, is the recent upgrade of its credit rating by Standard and Poor's to AA+, an action 'supported by the village's operating results, which has historically been very consistent, reflecting management's budgetary practices and robust monitoring,' according to the agency's ratings report. The plans for the funds, which can be found under the Village web site under the referendum tab, show the various projects being prioritized in the first 1 to 3 years, including rehabilitation of the Spring Rock Park combined sewer line that drains Old Town North, water main improvements near Lyons Township High School, reestablishing an emergency interconnection to Hinsdale's water system, and various road resurfacing and sidewalk improvements. New sidewalks also are planned, coordinated with the Illinois Department of Transportation's Safe Routes To Schools program. 'We're working with all the school districts in the area,' Biernacki said. 'We hope to have that project completed by November of this year and we expect to outline some additional sidewalk routes through parts of the village that don't have them.' New sidewalks would also be included when roads, water, and sewers would be reconstructed on streets that don't yet have them. Officials said about 30% of the village's streets are not lined by sidewalks. Beyond the first 3 years, road improvements and some stormwater and water main improvements are scheduled for Central Avenue, Commonwealth Drive, Woodland Avenue and Lawn Drive. The $45 million price tag is considerably larger than the two most recent bond issues approved by Western Springs voters, $6 million in 2008, and $12 million in 2016. Those bond issues were for road work only. Officials said the annual cost of the proposed bonds to homeowners would be $345 for the owner of a $750,000 home and $465 for owners of a $1 million property. The village's website's referendum page has a tool detailing costs based on individual property values. Officials also are looking at critical infrastructure needs over a longer time frame, with its Capital Infrastructure Plan having $200 million in recommended projects needed in the next 30-40 years. 'If approved, over the next 7 to 10 years, we would continue looking for alternative revenue sources to find ways to fund capital infrastructure projects,' Biernacki said, 'but it's very likely that in 7 to 10 years we'll be looking at another referendum, if our finance sources stay the same.' Passage of the bond issue is crucial, Biernacki said, because with 95% residential zoning, Western Springs is essentially a 'bedroom community' without the sales tax base of some nearby towns. 'It's challenging,' Biernacki said. 'We don't have a big box store, we don't have a Costco or a Home Depot or car dealerships. We've got a great growing downtown with wonderful businesses but we just don't have the sales tax revenue that some of our neighbors have. So if you looked at all of our existing funding sources and we tried to fund these critical infrastructure projects — one to two projects a year — we're figuring about six years with existing revenue sources, to fund a project like this.'
Chicago Tribune
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Lyons Township team goes silent for Film Festival challenge
There is more to be said about the short film 'Color Blind' than is said in the film itself. It's a fairly straightforward plot — a girl and boy meet and, suddenly, their black and white world bursts into color. But it's also a silent film and it was made in 11 days and it was made by high school students from Lyons Township High School so, in a way, it says a lot. The film was one of 11 silent shorts that debuted last week at the Student Silent Film Festival at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, an annual event since 2017. Bill Allen, a festival organizer, said this year's screening was the biggest since the pandemic briefly shuttered the world. Dozens of people turned out, buying tickets and popcorn and sodas — just like any other film festival. It featured filmmakers from high schools throughout the suburbs and it gave students, both in front of the camera and behind it, a taste of what it's like to get their work on the big screen. And it provided them with an original soundtrack, too. As the movies rolled on, Derek Berg, founder of the Clarendon Hills Music Academy, performed along beside them, matching the beats of the movie with synthesized scores. 'If you were to pay professional composers to do that, you would be paying around $400 an hour. And that's like a bargain deal,' Allen told the crowd. 'The fact that we're able to do this and have it in this historic, renovated theater is just amazing for us.' Allen should know, he's a veteran of the Chicago television and movie industry and these days he teaches television and movies at Lyons Township. His students already knew the night was special. None of the handful of LTHS students behind 'Color Blind' were first-time filmmakers — they're taking a media class and they're involved in afterschool TV Club activities, too — but they had never worked together on such short notice to tell a silent story. The evening celebrated not only the short movie, but their collaboration and the things most people in the audience would ever know anything about. Like, for instance, silent movies aren't very silent. Without microphones to capture sound, the actors, the crew and anybody in earshot can say anything they like as loudly as they like. 'It wasn't quiet,' said LTHS' Eva Eggerding, the one of the young people who finds romance in 'Color Blind.' 'We had a lot of bloopers,' said Claudio Rodriguez, cast as the boy. Or, they would have been, had the film had sound. Eggerding added, without sound, laughter and jokes didn't matter as much. 'Some of the stuff used in the film were bloopers,' she said. But beyond that, a lack of sound proved to be a challenge at times. Eggerding had acted, but never without dialog, so she said she needed to make sure she didn't look silly. Frederick Markus, the director and editor, was in charge of drawing the line between acting and overacting. But even then, the lack of microphones was helpful. 'I had to make sure the facial reactions were obvious, but not too in your face,' he said. 'But then, mid-scene, you could give direction, so that helped.' Finding a new way to tell a story was part of the assignment, Allen said. And in a medium such as film, which has incorporated sound for the better part of a century, it can be hard to figure out what makes an interesting, comprehensive series of silent moving images. 'They don't have any crutches to lean on using dialogue, voiceovers, sound effects or music to set the mood or tell the story,' said Allen. 'In the silent film, it all has to be done with the shots, compositions, angles, lighting, camera movements, actors expressions and so forth. He said even in movies that have portions without dialog, there's usually music or other ambient sounds to help illustrate the action on screen. All the sound helps to tell a story, not just the words. 'Most high school media programs don't produce a lot of silent films, so this project was definitely a challenge, especially for students in this generation who are saturated with media of all sorts,' he said. 'I think that over the years, this film festival made students focus on the visual storytelling; their shots, lighting, locations, wardrobe, props, and the expressions of their actors all had to be on point. More emphasis on the visual components and less reliance on dialogue, sound effects and music. It pushed students out of familiar territory and challenged them, which is always good in my opinion.' At the end of the evening, three schools walked away with the top prizes — in no particular order: Oak Forest High with 'Unpredicted,' Lake Forest with 'Between the Panels' and Nequa Valley High with 'Friendzone,' which also took home the audience choice award.
