AIR SHOW BEGINS WITH TRIBUTE

Burt Lehman draped the POW/MIA colors over an empty chair placed at the memorial service in honor of the soldiers who have never made it home.

"Every soldier is entitled to one certainty that they will always be remembered," Lehman said. "On the whole, the country has failed to honor that certainty."

Specialist Lehman, a Vietnam veteran joined retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Woodford, who served in the Navy during World War II and fought with the Air Force in Korea and Vietnam; Sergeant Charlie Thrower, a Vietnam veteran and Glenneta Vogelsang, past post, district, state and national president of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary in a tribute to veterans Thursday at Cape County Park North.

About 80 people gathered at the memorial which was the start of the 1999 Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The air show's theme is "Heroes and Legends."

Lehman said he believes there are soldiers still missing and it is hard to imagine their suffering.

"Their only hope is their faith in God," Lehman said. "Let us hope their faith remains strong in their hearts."

Jerry Jenkins, Post Commander for the 3838 VFW in Cape Girardeau watched the ceremony and agreed with Lehman.

"I do believe we have veterans lost and unaccounted for," he said.

Jenkins said the VFW strives to be vigilant and remember the people missing and the organization even has an officer specializing in POW/MIAs.

And Woodford said it is not just the missing in action who should be remembered, it also is the soldiers who made the country possible. He said before there was a United States, the world was governed by kings.

"We stand here today as free men," Woodford said. "Before there was America, all mankind was under the sway of kings instead of enjoying the blessings of liberty."

He said the entire world was subject to the kings.

"How would you like to be a subject?" Woodford said. "The very nature of the word is demeaning.

Woodford said the men who fought in American Revolution paved the way for the liberty everyone enjoys today and they did it because they were patriots.

Thrower told the crowd that patriotism was not dead and the very fact that they attended the service was an indication of their love for their country.

It is love of country and a desire to ensure that veterans are remembered that Harlam Howard, Senior Vice Commander of the 3838 VFW hopes will generate support for his organization.

As he watched the ceremony he said he can't help but wonder why the 600,000 veterans eligible to join the VFW in Missouri have not.

But even though the day was focused on veterans, Vogelsang reminded the crowd who it was who stood behind the brave soldiers fighting for their country.

"We want to make sure and remember the mothers, the wives, the families who watched their loved ones leave," Vogelsang said.