People throughout area pay respects to fallen service members on Memorial Day

Other than the odd jogger or dog-walker, not many were out and about at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Most people, it seemed, were taking advantage of the holiday, but others were taking a quiet moment alone to pay their respects at cemeteries and memorials around the Cape Girardeau area to those who died in the service of freedom.

At Cape County Park, Bill Engleman and his wife, Marge, had come to see the names included on the memorial.

The nameplates on the memorial bearing the names of local soldiers, as well as the road lined with dozens of American flags on each side make for a truly meaningful annual experience, Marge said.

“It’s something we do every year,” she said. “And it’s always just so peaceful a place here for it. It’s just a beautiful place to sit and remember.”

Bill sometimes forgets things, Marge said, and she has to refresh his memory from time to time, but the important things, he remembers.

Like the fact his uncle Charles Englemann served in World War II in the tank corps, or the men he himself served with in the Army in the mid-’50s, while he was stationed in Germany.

“He’s my veteran,” Marge said, squeezing Bill’s elbow.

As the morning draws on, activity begins to pick up around town. More visitors start to arrive at the memorial. People at gas stations load ice into the backs of SUVs in preparation for cookouts. Traffic stops in deference to the line of individuals hauling rucksacks and flags up Kingshighway for the annual Carry the Load event.

But at Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson, a middle-aged couple was searching for a pair of graves upon which to place a pair of roses.

Mike and Carole Harvell complete a six-hour tour of gravesites each year to honor their grandparents, three of whom served in World War II.

“It’s the one day that we set aside to look back instead of always looking forward,” Carole said.

She said that when she was younger, she didn’t truly understand the sort of sacrifices her grandparents went through to preserve their way of life, but as she got older, it began to take on a profound meaning.

“You start thinking about your own mortality. ... As we get older we start to appreciate more what the people who came before us did for us.”

“Don’t get us wrong, we like to partake in the barbecues and stuff like that too,” her husband added. “But today is not about beer and barbecue. It’s about more than that.”

So they spend their day going from Jackson to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and back to pay their respects.

“It’s an all day thing,” he said. “But it’s important.”

Back at the County Park memorial, Joe Horger and his wife, Lynn, said they were impressed with how the Cape Girardeau community pays its respects to those who served.

Joe served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and said Americans should be wary not to forget the liberties people enjoy today came at a price.

“When you look at conditions in other parts of the world, it makes you thankful to be a part of this country,” he said.

He and Lynn planned to attend several memorial services in Cape Girardeau later in the day.

“Because it’s like they say, freedom isn’t free,” Lynn said. “To come out here and take a minute, it’s just the right thing to do.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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