CIVIL WAR HEADLINES VETERANS DAY HERE

Cape Girardeau on Saturday honored its veterans, including those Americans who fought during the Civil War.

A Civil War monument, first dedicated in 1931, was rededicated Saturday during a Veterans Day ceremony in Common Pleas Courthouse Park. The marble monument was moved from its original site near the Mississippi River bridge to the Common Pleas lawn.

Bert Lehman of the Joint Veterans Council said the United States is "the only country to honor veterans who fought against it."

The honor, he explained, belongs to those who fought for what they believed was right.

Re-enactors from the Wickliffe, Ky.-based 7th Kentucky Company C, a Confederate cavalry unit that became an infantry unit, participated in monument rededication ceremony. In addition, several descendants of Civil War veterans attended.

Sandy Forrest, a re-enactor from Murray, Ky., said that over the years history about the South has been distorted. "It was about states' rights," Forrest said. "That was the foundation of our constitution."

Forrest thinks history books leave that part out.

Re-enactor Tom Hinkebein of Cape Girardeau said his ancestors fought for the Union, but he is interested in preserving the nation's history so he joined the Confederate re-enactors.

"By depicting what actually happened during these battles, we honor our ancestors for the beliefs they gave their lives for," Hinkebein said.

William Hal Wheeler, a re-enactor from Graves County, Ky., said he too wanted to protect history. "This happened 130 years ago, and yet we can bring it to life today,' he said.

He signed up for the re-enactment outfit that honors the same unit his great-grandfather joined.

Mrs. Don S. Schomburg of Chesterfield, who is vice president of the Missouri Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, echoed their sentiments. "I don't think history about the south is accurately portrayed," she said. "The war was fought over principles; it was not fought over slavery. It was about civil rights and interpretation of the Constitution."

In August, members of a historic group, the Civil War Round Table, asked the Cape Girardeau County Commission if the monument could be moved from Morgan Oak to the Common Pleas Courthouse Park in Cape Girardeau at the group's expense. The commission agreed. The monument is near the fountain in the park.

A round-table member, Jack Dragoni, said the $2,500 needed for the relocation came from a grant given to organizations that coordinate historic preservation. He said another historical foundation, the Sons of the Confederacy, found the grant for the round table.

The hand-carved monument stands 14 1/2 feet tall and weighs 12 1/2 tons. It was delivered in four pieces: three slabs that serve as a base and a tapered marker, all made of Georgia silver-gray marble.

One side of the monument reads "C.S.A.," standing for the Confederate States of America. Below the letters, the Confederate flag has been chiseled into the marble. The south side of the monument says, "Dedicated to the Confederate Soldiers of Southeast Missouri."