Veterans added to Avenue of Flags

In a week, organizers will put labels on 10 of the nearly 500 flags that will be part of the Avenue of Flags during a ceremony the morning of Sept. 11.

Veterans from World War I, World War II, Korea and the Vietnam War are part of a new class. They include Jim Baylor, Clemens Freese, Alex Cantrell, Carl Stroder, John D. Limbaugh, Jesse J. Limbaugh and Charles V. Miller. Jesse and John Limbaugh, father and son, fought in World War I and World War II, respectively.

“What a lot of people don’t understand is that each flag represents a Cape Girardeau County resident,” organizer David Cantrell said. “It represents our actual neighbors, our local heroes.”

The Avenue of Flags has grown since it was started in 1987. The requirement to have a flag in the ceremony is to have a deceased relative who fought in a foreign war and was a Cape Girardeau County native, Cantrell said.

Most of the 500 flags represent World War I and World War II veterans, many having died long after the Victory Days in those wars.

There are flags representing Cape Girardeau County residents who were killed in action, including Cpl. Jeremy Shank of Jackson, who served in Iraq.

Cantrell encourages the family members to attend the ceremony in which their relative’s flag is inducted into the group.

Multiple members of his family will celebrate his father, Alex Cantrell, on Sept. 11.

The Avenue of Flags is set up for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Patriots Day (9/11), Independence Day and Veterans Day.

Vietnam War veteran Tom Meyer said the Avenue of Flags brings back memories of the men he served with in Cambodia.

Meyer was part of an organization of Vietnam veterans who met with Afghanistan and Iraqi war veterans coming back from conflicts.

“It’s an emotional thing for a lot of us,” Meyer said. “We’ve been there, done that. It’s hard to look at it any other way.”

Meyer said each generation of veterans looked back in awe of what the previous generation had accomplished.

“Those in Iraq asked the same thing of us as we did the Korean War vets, as if it was impossible,” Meyer said. “It wasn’t impossible; you just did it.”

Fellow Vietnam veteran Bill Humphries said the Avenue of Flags is a beautiful symbol of the sacrifice of those who served in the military.

“It’s kind of a duty for me,” Humphries said. “It’s a special thing for me; it’s an awesome sight when you see it.”

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau County Park North, Cape Girardeau, Mo.