The words Uncle Louis often shared with his young nephew decades ago remain with him to this day.
“‘Listen, kid, our country isn’t perfect, but it’s the best country in the world,’ SP 4 Louis Castillo would say. ‘Always remember that.'”
The story of the sense of duty and patriotism Castillo — and the thousands like him — felt is told in the original play “Fortunate Sons.” Written by Castillo’s nephew and Naperville resident Louie Santiago, the play runs Nov. 5-6 at Center Stage Theater in Naperville.
Performances are at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 6. A portion of the ticket proceeds will benefit Vietnam veterans.
The play is based on the real-life story of Castillo, who was living in Chicago when the U.S. Army drafted him at the end of 1964.
“He had these plans of going to med school after college and becoming a doctor in our old neighborhood and helping the families from the neighborhood,” Santiago said.
Castillo spent most of 1965 training as a medic.
“He had to make some choices but from day one he was just an ultra patriotic man. He said ‘I’m going to Vietnam; I’ll get my medic training. From there I’ll have the government pay for med school.'” Santiago said. “He had a girlfriend, Phyllis … They planned for when he got back from Vietnam to get married. But he never made it back.”
Santiago, who was close to Castillo, was 8 years old when his uncle was killed in action in 1966.
“He was just 23 years old,” he said.
It was about 12 years ago that Santiago first used Castillo’s letters home along with memories shared by his aunts and uncles as the basis for a short story about him. He later decided to adapt the story into a play.
“It’s about him, his journey and the stories that he shared with our family before he left us,” Santiago said.
Director Sami Casten, who works as house manager at Center Stage Theater and as an audience services associate at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, said the play is about patriotism, loyalty, determination and what really drives people.
“A sense of duty is what we all feel the play is about,” said Casten, who lives in Naperville. “What you feel a sense of duty to, whether that’s to your country, your family, your loved ones. That’s really what we’re really focusing on.”
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Casten met Santiago at Center Stage while he was at the theater for a work-related event. After Santiago mentioned that he wanted to stage the play he wrote, he was introduced to Casten, who recently graduated from Illinois State University where she studied acting and also did some directing.
“I’m really glad that we’re able to do this for him and for others who may have similar stories,” Casten said. “I think it’s really important to put out there and to maybe make people feel a little less alone. Like they have a community.”
The two-act play incorporates a fair amount of audiovisual elements, she said.
“Louie’s pulled a lot of really cool videos from around the time and music from around then,” she said.
Casten said she and many in the nine-member cast are “pretty young” and have learned a lot from the play.
So it’s very eye-opening to hear this kind of story from not quite a firsthand perspective but from family members,” she said.
Santiago, who works as marketing manager for Chicagoland CARSTAR, said the play is part of the auto body repair company’s Veterans Initiative. Through the initiative, CARSTAR is working with the National Auto Body Council and its Recycled Rides program to gift four fully refurbished vehicles to veterans in need in Chicagoland. The play is raising funds to help offset the cost of the refurbishing.
“When you see the families get the vehicles, you can’t put words to it,” Santiago said.
The Veterans Initiative is also giving tickets to veterans to see “Fortunate Sons” through local VFWs.
“We’re trying to fill the theater with veterans,” Santiago said. “We’re going to acknowledge the veterans at the play during intermission.
“We just want to say ‘hey, you guys are not forgotten,'” Santiago said. “‘Thank you for your service.'”
Veterans who are interested in attending the play for free can contact Santiago at 630-222-2707 for complimentary tickets.
“I’m hoping my uncle is looking down on us from that big baseball (diamond) in the sky and smiling,” Santiago said. “Hopefully we’ve done it well.”
‘Fortunate Sons’
When: Nov. 5-6
Where: Center Stage Theater, 1665 Quincy Ave., Suite 131, Naperville
Tickets: $30
Information: 630-355-9212; centerstage-theater.com/shows/fortunate-sons/
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.