A Michigan state representative is renewing her effort to honor a World War II hero from Jackson.
Representative Kathy Schmaltz has reintroduced legislation that would designate a one-mile stretch of US-127, near the I-94 interchange, as the 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger Highway.
The change is being proposed to pay tribute to Stiger, a Tuskegee Airman who lived in Jackson as a young boy.
Schmaltz credits students at the Jackson College Heritage Center with keeping Stiger’s story alive.
“They found 2nd Lt. Roosevelt Stiger and found out all about him, all of his past, how much time he spent in Jackson and brought it to my attention,” Schmaltz said.
She says Stiger was reported missing in action during the war.
“He was lost during a bombing escort mission ... in October 1944 and was awarded a Purple Heart for his service,” she said.
Schmaltz introduced a similar bill last February but lawmakers never passed it out of committee, so it never went before the full House for a vote.
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