More than 100 people, including veterans, their families and area residents, gathered Thursday at the Veterans Memorial wall outside the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff for the annual Veteran’s Day ceremony.
A cold, rainy sunrise gave way to a sunny and breezy midday, a turn in the weather that master of ceremonies Larry Kimbrow cited as evidence that “God answers prayers.”
Kimbrow is a retired lieutenant commander from the U.S. Navy and president of Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 1056.
Keynote speaker Robert D. Wake Sr., U.S. Army (ret.), honored his fellow veterans and told those gathered, “We have a responsibility to honor those who have served and to show them that we care for them.”
“We’re only free today because of our veterans,” Wake said. “We are only free because of the sacrifices they made.”
Preceding Wake’s address was Chandra Miller, interim director of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center. Miller is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
She said although freedom is a blessing, “We must remember the terrible cost of those blessings for those who gave the last full measure of devotion,” echoing the words of President Abraham Lincoln.
“Our veterans are ordinary Americans who acted in extraordinary ways to keep our country free,” Miller said.
Jerry Sneathern presented a remembrance for POW-MIA service members, reminding those gathered the “sweetness of enduring peace is tempered by the bitterness of eternal sacrifice.”
“We are witnesses to their continued absence,” he said. “Let us remember and never forget their sacrifice.”
James Todd, U.S. Air Force (ret.), performed three musical selections: “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a medley of all five U.S. military service songs, and “God Bless America.”
Memorial wreaths of flowers were presented and posted by American Legion Auxiliary 153, VFW Auxiliary 6477, Vietnam Veterans of America 1056 and Amvets Auxiliary 29.
Poplar Bluff High School’s Junior ROTC posted and retired the colors at the beginning and end of the ceremony, with the SEMO Veteran’s Honor Guard delivering a 21-gun salute.