SEMO Veteran Corps to hold first reunion

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the SEMO Veteran Corps flourished at Southeast Missouri State University. Now, decades later, some former members of the group plan to hold a reunion during the university's Homecoming on Oct. 21.

The SEMO Veteran Corps was a close-knit social organization of students who were veterans of the Vietnam War. They congregated for parties at an off-campus house in Cape Girardeau.

"We were returning veterans, part of the college scene," remembered Cape Girardeau real estate agent Tom M. Meyer, who served as a Navy Seabee in Laos and Thailand during the war.

Many of the Vietnam War veterans were older than the traditional college students. "We were perhaps the original nontraditional students," he said.

Many wore their hair long, and sported beards and mustaches. "We were all pretty rough looking," said Meyer, who graduated from Southeast in 1975.

The group existed from 1967 to 1975. The Vietnam War ended in 1975, and the group faded away because there was no longer a steady stream of veterans to fill the ranks.

Over the years, memories of the "Vet Corps" died out on campus. "I think they forgot about us," Meyer said.

Meyer said he and other local veterans hope to resurrect the Vet Corps now that the university has 166 students enrolled who are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

About 100 former members of the Vet Corps have indicated they will attend the reunion this month.

The group even will have a featured place in the Homecoming parade.

But Meyer said the celebration has been expanded to include all veterans and veterans organizations who want to participate in the parade and the subsequent ceremony at Houck Stadium prior to the Homecoming football game.

Veterans from World War II to the latest Iraq war have been invited to attend, Meyer said.

The parade will start with a formal Marine Honor Guard. A 25-by-40-foot American flag will be carried by 20 veterans.

A number of veterans plan to ride in restored military jeeps or walk in the parade, Meyer said.

The large number of veterans and military vehicles will meet near the Show Me Center to get organized for the parade. The group plans to join the parade at Broadway and Henderson Avenue, he said.

"It is almost like a parade within a parade," said Meyer.

After the parade, veterans will gather on Bellevue Street in front of the stadium's east gate for food and refreshments.

Military planes will fly over the football stadium during the pregame ceremony in honor of Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, a 1968 Southeast graduate and a top official in the nation's National Guard.

Vaughn is the only Missouri Guardsman to attain the rank of lieutenant general, said Jane Stacy, who directs alumni services at Southeast. He recently served as an assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Vaughn is scheduled to attend Homecoming festivities as is another former Southeast student, 89-year-old retired Air Force Gen. Seth McKee, Stacy said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123