By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

BLOOMFIELD - While many area residents marked Memorial Day with a family cookout or a trip to the beach, the mood was poignantly somber at the hallowed burial grounds of fallen soldiers and decorated war veterans.

At the Missouri Veterans Cemetery, the area’s military cemetery, hundreds of  tiny flags waved in the breeze - each beside an identical headstone, and larger American flags placed alongside the roadway in the cemetery snapped at attention in the afternoon wind.

A large crowd of veterans, survivors, family members and friends, and Patriot Guard Riders gathered for the early afternoon ceremony at the Committal Shelter in the Cemetery. For the for time, several large tents were erected to shelter the audience from the heat and sunshine.

The ceremony was marked by speeches, a presentation of the POW/MIA Table Ceremony a 21-gun salute and the sounding of taps. The Stoddard County Honor Band provided music.

The importance of Memorial Day – at home and around the world – was the focus of remarks by U.S. Rep Jo Ann Emerson. She noted that while Memorial Day is a somber day in America, it is a day that is actually observed throughout the world.

“In every state in our country, gatherings like this are being held, family members are remembering loved ones, veterans are remembering their brothers in arms, and communities are remembering the patriots who laid down their lives for our liberty,” Emerson said. “On foreign shores, a great debt of gratitude is being paid to American heroes who sacrificed everything so those folks, too, might have a taste of the freedom that we strive to make possible in the world. In a cemetery in Normandy, there is a gathering amid a field of white crosses, in a community merely miles from the DMZ in South Korea, a wreath is being laid, and in Afghanistan, American soldiers have a fallen comrade in their thoughts today.”

Emerson noted that the sacrifice and impact of America’s veterans ripple through generations and nations.

“They were the vanguard of our commitment to freedom, they were the best essence of our communities here at home, they were the unwavering guardians of the light of liberty in some of the darkest places in the world, in some of the darkest corners of history. They are, and will forever be, the deepest inspiration for every aspect of Americans lives and services. Our hearts break for the sacrifices these Americans made in line of duty for their families but also feel the awe they inspire and the greatness of our country, our constitution, of our great God-given fortunes in the world. All of these are worth defending with our very lives,” Emerson said.

She noted that one week ago, the Rolla community saluted the return of Army Pfc. Richard Lewis , who was killed in service on May 13 in Bowri Tana, Afghanistan when the vehicle he was driving hit an improvised explosive device.

“We have men and women who wake up every day knowing they may pay the price for our liberty. Yet they keep doing it. They volunteer, they put their honor, they leave their families and some don’t return. And yet still more go – year after year, generation after generation,” she commented. She noted that they don’t serve with a political agenda, or to “show off their daring”, or without thought of the sacrifices they make. “Without them there is no guarantee of freedom for any of us. Without them there is no safeguard for liberty. Without them America is not what we know it must be for each of us.”

State Rep. Billy Pat Wright of Dexter said that one of the “proudest” things he did during his last eight years as a member of the Missouri General Assembly was serving on the Veterans Committee.

“We are here to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and also to the living veterans,” Wright said.

State Senators Rob Mayer of Dexter noted that in the cemetery were heroes of great American battles of the last century – from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“As we gather our thoughts are not on that of tombs or graves or deceased veterans but of standing on hallowed ground.  Today, in this cemetery, are great American heroes,” Mayer said.

The ceremony concluded with a rifle salute and the sounding of “Taps.”

Photo Above: U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson chats with World War II veteran L.E. Caudle of Dexter following the Memorial Day service at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield on Monday. (ShowMe Times photo by Annabeth Miller)