People gather to pay tribute to veterans from throughout area

Veterans Day began and ended in Cape Girardeau County with outdoor community celebrations of veterans and their service.

On Tuesday, Teen Challenge volunteers set up the more than 700 flags for the Avenue of Flags in Cape County Park North. Each flag represents and has the name of a deceased veteran from Cape Girardeau County. Every Veterans Day, flags are added to honor veterans who have recently died.

“They’re gone, but not forgotten,” said retired U.S. Navy Capt. David J. Cantrell, chairman of the Avenue of Flags.

This year, the loved ones of 11 veterans gathered at the Veterans Memorial Plaza at the park and each had the opportunity to speak about their veteran.

Mary Jean Giles spoke about her father, World War II veteran Jean A. Rudert. She said he started his service in 1943 because he was blind in one eye. He served in Germany with the artillery, played in the Army band and received a Bronze Star.

“He never did talk too much, but one story that he did tell me was that when he was on the ground crawling along, he would cover his good eye, and he could hear the bullets hit around him. And he said, ‘I don’t know how I made it through the war.’ And my aunt said, ‘Mom prayed an awful lot,’” Giles said.

Later in the day, Jackson held its annual Veterans Day parade with people lined along the sides of South High and West Main streets.

Veterans from the area waved from their vehicles and some threw candy. They were joined by Mayor Dwain Hahs, the local Boy Scouts, Daughters of the American Revolution, local police officers and firefighters and the Jackson Marching Chiefs, among others and more.

The parade looked different from years past with parade goers wearing face masks because of the coronavirus pandemic, but some used it as an opportunity to show their patriotism with American flag designs.