Memorial Day 2020

Ben Matthews

Monday, May 25, 2020

Various commemorations of Memorial Day are captured Monday, May 25, 2020, in Cape Girardeau and Perryville, Missouri. In Cape Girardeau, a crew of workers from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America assisted in assembling the Avenue of Flags at Cape Girardeau County Park North, and the flags will remain posted until Tuesday evening. In Perryville, guests visited Missouri's National Veterans Memorial. The memorial is a full-scale replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. and features a wall of black granite panels inscribed with more than 58,000 names of those killed in battle or reported missing.

Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America volunteer and Navy veteran Benjamin Bailey, right, unravels a flag while working to assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Thomas Houston carries a flag while working with fellow crew members from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America to assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Derek Hall, far left, works with crew members from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America to assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America intake coordinator Wes Dobson, center, watches as the final flags are posted in the Avenue of Flags on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)

John Swofford, right, unravels a flag memorializing Vietnam veteran Charles R. Finley while working with Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America crew members to assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Pete Poe, center, directs Semovets president Alan Schoen, left, and Alex Winder with Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America, center right, in unloading flags from a trailer as the Avenue of Flags is assembled for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America program director Chance Petiniot unravels a flag while working to assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Frank Staple, Jr., center, grasps a flag pole while assisting a group from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America in assembling the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Anthony Amontoya with Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America unravels a flag memorializing World War II veteran James J. Reedy as the Avenue of Flags is assembled for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)

Retired Navy Capt. David Cantrell, chairman of the Avenue of Flags, speaks to a group from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America before the Avenue of Flags is assembled for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. A ceremony is traditionally held to honor any new additions to the Avenue of Flags, but the Memorial Day ceremony was cancelled to remain in compliance with guidances issued by the City of Cape Girardeau and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Volunteers and crew members from Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America are reflected in a puddle as they assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Pete Poe (in white) leads a group of volunteers and crew members with Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America as they assemble the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Roger Cary counts the number of flags composing the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. Each flag posted memorializes a fallen Cape Girardeau County veteran, and new additions are continually made to the memorial. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
A bus driven by Adult and Teen Challenge Mid-America program director Chance Petiniot departs from Cape Girardeau County Park North after men with the organization assembled the Avenue of Flags for Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at Cape Girardeau County Park North in Cape Girardeau. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
A flag placed in memory of Michael D. Walker rests in front of a panel of the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. A hand-written message which read "Daddy, My Hero," was located on one side of the flag's wooden base. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Army veteran Tom Arens of St. Louis touches an inscription on the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial bearing the name of his friend, Samuel V. Burruano, during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. Arens served in Berlin, and paid respects to friends from Ritenour High School in St. Louis. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Mementos rest in front of a panel of the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Ste. Genevieve resident Tom Vaeth touches the name of St. Louis veteran Ivory Ward, Jr. at the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. Ward fought in the Battle of Ia Drang, which was the first major battle of the Vietnam War. The battle was the subject of the 2002 film "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson, which was based on the 1992 novel "We Were Soldiers Once.. and Young" authored by Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph L. Galloway. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Guests view the names of 58,000 soldiers inscribed on the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. The memorial is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and was completed in 2017. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
From left, Glen Larose views a bench dedicated to his father, Army veteran Lester J. Larose, with his daughter, Alex Lueders, and his grandsons, Liam Lueders and Zach Seyer, during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, at the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
A wreath sits in the middle of the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
A bouquet of flowers is seen at the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Willie Lee Brisco McGuire photographs his brother's name on the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Kate and Willard Fritsche, center right, pause to view a bench while walking along the Missouri's National Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, 2020, in Perryville, Missouri. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Local musician Rodney Lancaster plays taps on his front porch during Memorial Day on Monday afternoon, May 25, 2020. The musician's playing of taps at 3 p.m. local time was part of Taps Across America -- a nationwide remembrance of the fallen amid event cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak. Lancaster has performed with such names as Ella Fitzgerald, the Illinois Jacquet Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. (Ben Matthews ~ Southeast Missourian)
Patrick Malone, a 2020 graduate of Jackson High School, takes part in Taps Across America in his front yard Monday afternoon, May 25, 2020, at Touchdown Estates in Jackson. Malone, 18, son of Kathy and Mike Malone, will attend Valparaiso University in the fall studying mechanical engineering. (Jeff Long ~ Southeast Missourian)