To honor the men and women who served and who are serving in the U.S. military, the public is invited to the 2017 Veterans Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday. The event will be held at the Veterans Memorial Wall at Poplar Bluff's Black River Coliseum. Master of Ceremonies John Holland said the start time is a Veterans Day tradition and reflects a significant moment in history.
"Originally Veterans Day was Armistice Day, to celebrate the treaty signed marking the end of World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month," Holland said.
While Armistice Day is still celebrated in many countries, in 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill to officially expand America's focus from honoring just those impacted by World War I to honoring all American veterans, thus changing the name to Veterans Day.
The keynote speaker for this year's ceremony is Deloy Lawson, a World War II Navy veteran from Neelyville, Mo., whose story was recently featured in the Daily American Republic's special edition Progress is Patriotism. During the interview, Lawson detailed his experience on June 6, 1944. Also known as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne operation in history and one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Lawson was in the thick of it as one of a four-man crew that operated a landing craft to put soldiers on the beach.
"Our ages were 16, me and another guy were 17, and the old man on the boat was 18," said Lawson, who is the older brother of former Poplar Bluff City Manager Tom Lawson.
He said the crew went in on the 25th wave at Omaha Beach. "We took in soldiers of the Big Red 1. They loaded on our boat the day before. We ate breakfast on the deck on the way across. For some, it would be their last meal."
Lawson was the keynote speaker at Poplar Bluff's Memorial Day Ceremony in May.
Holland said other featured speakers will include Patricia Hall, director of the John J. Pershing Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Dan Self, who will present on behalf of POW-MIA. The Southeast Missouri Veterans Honor Guard will perform a rifle salute with taps. The Pledge of Allegiance and singing are part of the morning's festivities, as well as an opening prayer and ending benediction.
Holland said he hopes to see a crowd at the event, noting plentiful parking in the coliseum's lots.
"The more people who come, the better," Holland said. "We encourage everyone to come out and show support for our veteran community."