Monument dedication at Cape park to honor historic band of soldiers

A ceremony dedicating a monument to veterans of the 140th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri Army National Guard will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cape County Park North, near the flagpole.

Paying honor and respect to the living and deceased members of the former regiment was foremost in the minds of members of the 140th as early as 1997, when they began meeting every other year for reunions.

The 140th Infantry Regiment was deactivated in 1963. The 1140th Engineer Battalion, organized and officially recognized in 1968, carries the lineage of the former 140th Infantry Regiment. About 430 men from the 1140th returned in March from more than a year of service in Iraq.

The idea of a memorial was sparked by a desire to keep the tradition and history of the 140th alive in a more permanent place where relatives and friends could ponder and reflect.

"The 140th has been gone for a long time. The memorial is past due," said Paul Summers, a former sergeant major who served in both the 140th and 1140th from 1953 to 1994.

Clarence Suedekum, former commander of the 1140th Engineer Battalion, and Don Koehler, who served in the 140th and the 1140th, came up with the idea of the monument at a reunion.

Koehler explained that the regimental boundaries, which once included Southeast Missouri from Crystal City and Festus on the north to the Arkansas border on the south, are significant because prior to World War II, every small community had a Guard detachment of some size.

"There's a lot of people with roots and ties to the 140th, so we didn't want it to be forgotten," Koehler said. "For instance, the 140th march was written by the band director from Chaffee. Even Marble Hill had a National Guard."

Roots of the 140th can be traced back to the 6th Missouri Infantry, which fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy.

Headquartered in Cape Girardeau, the regiment was initially composed of men from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Sikeston, Charleston and other small communities.

The regiment, reorganized prior to the Spanish-American War, mustered into federal service to go in Cuba and headed the column that marched into Havana on Jan. 1, 1899. By May 1899, it was taken out of federal service. Later in World War I, the regiment saw combat in Alsace Lorraine and Meuse Argonne, France.

In World War II, the unit became a part of the 35th Infantry Division and was assigned security duties on the West Coast.

"What a lot of people don't realize is that during WWII, a lot of guardsmen became part of the cadre, serving in leadership roles at Fort Benning," Summers said.

Upon deactivation from federal status, the regiment again became the 140th Infantry Regiment.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133