A salute to Old Glory at the Avenue of Flags

Five times a year, a vast display of flags line the road at Cape Girardeau County Park that lead to the veterans' memorial on top of the hill.

According to chairman for the Avenue of Flags program, David Cantrell, about 60 to 70 volunteers help put up and take down the flags each time, from organizations such as Adult and Teen Challenge, ROTC and Boy Scouts, and individual volunteers.

Cantrell said since his involvement with the project in 2016, it has raised about a quarter of a million dollars, every cent of which goes to the management of the flags. It wouldn't have been possible without the generosity of the community, he said.

Three times in a year, new flags are added--on Memorial Day, July 4th and Veterans Day. Each flag represents a deceased Cape Girardeau county veteran who served in a foreign war.

Cantrell said 14 new flags will be added on the upcoming July 4th holiday. That brings the overall total to 819 flags.

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)

One of the new flags will be especially difficult to put up. A founding member of the program and Vietnam veteran, Charles "Charlie" Thrower Jr., died May 28, 2021.

Cantrell said that Thrower helped him begin to manage the program not too long ago and was a staple in the conception of the project.

The Southeast Missourian has been photographing the program over the years. Here is a look back to honor those veterans as more are added this Independence Day.