MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS SET IN AREA

MOUND CITY, Ill. -- J. Purveyor was shot as a Confederate spy during the early years of the Civil War.

Sgt. Fred W. Brinkmeyer was a mess sergeant with Illinois Co. G., 333rd Infantry, 84th Division during World War I.

Sgt. 1st Class Carl Thompson served during World War II and the Korean War.

Pvt. John F. Terry Jr. was a Marine during the Vietnam War.

Pfc. Pamela Y. Gay was killed in action during Desert Storm.

All are buried in Mound City National Cemetery at Mounds, Ill.

Veterans of all wars will be honored during a Memorial Day service at the cemetery Saturday.

The program, titled "Roll Call," will recognize veterans from the Civil War through Desert Storm, said James Larry, a member of the cemetery commission. The annual service begins at 10 a.m. It is sponsored by Mound City National Cemetery Preservation Commission Inc.

Miniature flags will be placed on each headstone in the cemetery by Meridian school students and St. Mary-St. Patrick CYO Friday starting at 10 a.m.

The Avenue of Flags will be set in place prior to the Saturday morning service.

A number of other Memorial Day services are planned this weekend. They will be held at Anna, Ill., Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville and Scott City.

More than 7,500 veterans and some of their spouses are buried in the National Cemetery, situated near highways 51 and 37 just west of Mound City.

A presentation of colors and firing of the cannons will be presented by the 1244th Transportation Unit, Illinois National Guard; 8th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company G; POW-MIA Color Guard; Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; Camp 1802, Sons of the Confederate Veterans of the Civil War; and Marine Corps League.

Others to be present will be commanders of VFW and American Legion posts, including those at Cairo, Mounds, McClure, and Villa Ridge, all in Illinois; Gold Start Mothers; Sons of Union Veterans; and various women's auxiliaries.

Jim Wright, commander of Cairo American Legion Post 406, will be guest speaker at the Mounds service. Matthew Lawler of Meridian High School will present an essay, James Kinder will sing the national anthem, and Jim Richards will conduct the roll call.

The Mound City National Cemetery was initially established as a burial place for those who died at Civil War military hospitals in Mound City and nearby Cairo. The hospitals were established in the two cities in 1861.

The first patients at the Mound City hospital were men wounded in the Battle of Belmont, Mo., in November 1861. Combat at Shiloh and Fort Donelson in 1862 sent more wounded to Mound City, and the death rate began to soar.

The Mound City National Cemetery was among the first cemeteries established during the Civil War. There are more than 2,600 unknown soldiers buried in the cemetery.

Burials in the 12-acre cemetery have slowed during the past decade, ranging from 25 to 50 a year. The cemetery commission is considering expansion of the cemetery with the purchase of adjoining property.

The cemetery commission recently succeeded in having the 124-year old cemetery headquarters building declared a historic building. The building, constructed in 1875, will eventually house a museum and visitors center.

Elsewhere:

-- At Anna, Carroll P. Foster Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3455 will conduct a service Monday at 11 a.m. at the post. The Dongola High School band will play patriotic music.

-- At Cape Girardeau, Harry Spiller, a U.S. Marine for more than 10 years, a former law enforcement officer, educator and author, will be guest speaker at Cape Girardeau's Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Osage Centre. Prior to the ceremony, at 10:30 a.m., the Cape Girardeau Municipal Band will perform patriotic selections.

Colors will be posted by VFW Post 3838, and the honor guard will be furnished by the Missouri National Guard.

Spiller served in the Marine Corps from 1963 to 1973. He is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale with a bachelor's degree in administration of justice and masters degree in public administration. He is currently working on a doctorate in political science.

He is an associate professor in criminal justice at John A. Logan Community College at Carterville, Ill.

-- At Jackson, the Memorial Day service begins at 9 a.m. at the entrance to Jackson City Cemetery on South High Street.

Althenthal-Joerns American Legion Post 158 and its auxiliary will hold the event, which will begin with a performance by the Jackson Municipal Band. Guest speaker will be the Rev. Jim Matthews of First Baptist Church in Jackson.

In case of rain, the service will be held at the American Legion Hall in Jackson.

-- Kelso TWP Memorial Post 6407 and its auxiliary will sponsor a Memorial Day service at Lightener Memorial Cemetery east of Scott City Monday at 11 a.m. State Rep. Lannie Black of Charleston will be guest speaker.

-- At Perryville Robert L. Boxdorfer will be keynote speaker at the Memorial Day service.

The Perryville program starts at 10 a.m. with veterans groups marching from the American Legion post to the Perry County Courthouse north steps.

Boxdorfer, a native of Perryville, served two years in the Marines, attended the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, and worked 34 years for the city of St. Louis before retiring.

Schedule of Memorial Day programs

Saturday

10 a.m. -- Mound City National Cemetery near Mound City, Ill.

Monday

11 a.m. -- Osage Centre, Cape Girardeau.

11 a.m. -- Carroll P. Foster Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3455 at Anna, Ill.

9 a.m. -- Entrance to Jackson City Cemetery on South High Street, Jackson.

11 a.m. -- Lightener Memorial Cemetery east of Scott City.

11 a.m. -- Veterans groups to march from American Legion post to the Perry County Courthouse north steps for ceremony in Perryville.