JACKSON VETERANS MEMORIAL RESCHEDULES DEDICATION EVENT

JACKSON -- Trustees of the Jackson Memorial to Veterans of All Wars have rescheduled a dedication of the first phase of the veterans memorial for Saturday, Armed Forces Day.

The dedication was scheduled last weekend but was rained out Saturday and again on Sunday.

The rescheduled program will begin at 2 p.m. at the memorial in Jackson's Brookside Park.

Those planning to attend should bring folding chairs or lawn chairs. Parking will be available at the northwest corner of the park, near the intersection of Brookview and Goodson, in the Sunset Hills subdivision.

Prior to the program, the Jackson Municipal Band will present a 30-minute program of music, starting at 1:30 p.m. Charles Shultz, a member of the Jackson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, will serve as master of ceremonies during the dedication.

The first phase of the memorial included construction of a flag pole, paved circle walkway, and placement of three, 8-by-6-foot granite stones from North Carolina.

The memorial commemorates veterans, living and deceased, who have served in the U.S. armed forces both during war and peacetime.

One of the granite stones will have emblems of each branch of the armed forces mounted on it. Another stone will be engraved with the first verse of "Taps." The third stone will be engraved with words that explain the purpose of the memorial.

The completed memorial will include an open-air chapel with benches and esplande leading from the flag pole to the chapel. The chapel will consist of 11 columns on which will be mounted a Veterans Wall. The wall will consist of a series of stone panels on which will be engraved the names of living and deceased veterans. The architect for the chapel and Veterans Wall is John D. Dudley. It will be constructed by John Welch Construction Co.

Weather permitting, the memorial is scheduled to be completed by July. Total cost of the memorial is estimated at $150,000.

Gwen Winningham, a trustee of the memorial project, said names of any living or deceased veteran of the 10 wars fought by the United States, from the American Revolution to Desert Storm, can be engraved on the wall at the memorial. The veteran does not have to be a resident of Cape Girardeau County.

Winningham said the memorial committee is now accepting names of veterans for the second round of engraving that will begin later this summer. A donation of $50 per name will cover the cost of engraving. Those submitting names of veterans should include the first name, middle initial, and last name, the branch of service, and the war, or years served in the military.

Send the names to "Brookside Park Memorial to All Veterans, Box 595, Jackson, Mo., 63755.

For more information about the memorial, or to obtain a form to submit the name of a veteran and make a donation, call 243-7186 or 243-8224 evenings, and 243-4018.