Per tradition, local veterans organizations will be outside the Black River Coliseum on Wednesday morning to recognize Veterans Day.
The event, organized by the Poplar Bluff Veterans’ Council, will be at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Wall.
The program includes a POW/MIA Remembrance by Sgt. Ralph Innes, remarks from John J. Pershing VA Medical Center Director Drew Dewitt, a keynote by Col. Douglas C. Rose Jr. and a 21-gun salute/taps by the SEMO Veterans Honor Guard.
In the case of rain, the event will be moved across the street to the VFW building.
Dewitt has worked at a variety of VA medical centers around the country and currently is stationed in Poplar Bluff.
He has a master’s degree in health administration from Ashford University.
Rose is a Qulin native, who served in the U.S. Army and National Guard for 32 years.
He retired to Poplar Bluff in 2019 after working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but earlier this year worked helping set up emergency medical facilities in Pennsylvania in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fred Landwersiek said the honor guard will perform the same service they do for veteran’s funerals as part of the event.
“We want to pay tribute to those fallen veterans,” he said. “It’s small, but the least we can do.”
He said anybody who would like to volunteer with the honor guard can contact him at 573-718-6257.
At the schools:
This year, the Neelyville R-IV School District decided not to host its annual Veterans Day program out of concern over COVID-19 and having a large group of visitors in the buildings.
The Fisk campus of Twin Rivers R-X will have an assembly and breakfast for veterans Wednesday morning. They will adhere to social distancing.
Most Poplar Bluff R-I schools won’t have a program either.
Poplar Bluff Middle School invites veterans to participate in a parade in the parking lot at 9 a.m.
The school normally does an assembly, but with concern over COVID opted to have an outdoors parade instead.
Dr. Joshua Teeter, principal, said the school has five-six cars for the veterans, and students will be outside the school in red, white and blue.
The vehicles will parade through the parent pick-up lane.
Veterans can register to participate either on the school’s website or by calling 573-785-5566 and speaking with a counselor.
In the case of rain, the parade will be held Thursday.