USO dance great

To the Editor

Thank you to Three Rivers College Volunteers for Veterans in providing the community with an 11/11/11 Veterans Day special evening at the Bess Activity Center.

It was so much fun for us to dig out my husband's Army uniform and get dressed for the evening. Granted, his shirt didn't fit, so we outfitted me in it, including his medals. But his hat shined up with its solid brass insignia and his boots still fit! So, "top to bottom" he was authentic, and I represented "the middle half".

Meeting and talking to other community members, dancing to the 40s music, sipping root beer floats, and eating scrumptious cookies . . . all added to the fun. A volunteer director from the V. A. acted as "The Press" and provided us great portraits with WWII backdrop. But most interesting was the display of local historical memorabilia on loan from the Poplar Bluff Museum (located at the former Mark Twain School). Billie Kanell's uniform, his Medal of Honor, Pernel Barwick's uniform and plaque of his story, the photo and explanation of the 270 warship sponsored by the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce . . . all these items were so fascinating.

So, thank you, TRC Volunteers for Veterans. It was a lovely evening. My husband and I joked that after 40 years, his boots finally "danced", instead of "trudged through the mud"!

Jayne E. Niskey,

Ph. D. "Bride"of

Capt. Warren Kerber

Williamsville, Mo