Prescott Valley resident praises Hometown Heroes banner program as a meaningful recognition of local service members

A Prescott Valley resident used public comment to describe the town's Hometown Heroes banner program and to honor family members who served in the U.S. military.

The speaker, identified in the meeting record only as a Prescott Valley resident, said the banners recognize local service and said the family has multiple veterans across generations, including relatives who served in World War II, the Korean War and more recent conflicts. "All four of my uncles were Navy," the resident said, and later added that his father served with the Fifth Marine Division on Iwo Jima.

The Hometown Heroes banner program, the resident said, was advertised by the town and on social media; he and his spouse submitted an application and were notified that their banners were accepted. "We filled out the paperwork or the application and received notification that they were accepted," the resident said. He described a process that included new brackets and choices about locations for the banners and said volunteers who hung the banners felt honored to do so.

Why it matters: municipal banner programs are a visible form of local recognition that can shape community sentiment and public remembrance. The resident framed the initiative as a way for Prescott Valley to publicly acknowledge service members and their families, and said the display was important to both veterans and civilians in the town.

Details and context: the speaker said he has lived in Prescott Valley since 1972 and that he and his spouse worked as teachers and coached youth sports locally. He described two adult children who enlisted after seeing family service: a son who joined the Marines and a daughter who enlisted after attending her brother's graduation. He also said a brother is deployed to Africa and "he'll be there till June 2026," and that another brother served in Iraq and now works as a Yavapai County deputy sheriff.

On the emotional impact, the resident said the banners had a strong personal effect: "When we saw them on the posts, it made me cry. It was a bigger reaction than I thought to see their faces up there representing Prescott Valley," he said. He called the banners "a symbol of people recognizing that and appreciating their service," and said people in town were taking pictures and smiling when they saw them.

The resident credited Mayor Kells for mentioning the program in a town blurb and said he hoped the banners would remind the community of its homegrown service members. He also said the people honored tended not to call themselves heroes. "They don't look at themselves as heroes," the resident said. "But I thought it was important that we look at them as heroes and their community looks at them as heroes."

No formal council action or vote on the program was recorded in the provided transcript. The resident's remarks were presented as a personal testimony in support of the Hometown Heroes banner program and of local recognition for military service.

The town program was described only as a banner initiative; specific program rules, eligibility criteria, application deadlines and ongoing maintenance arrangements were not specified in the public comment recorded in the transcript.