Veterans Day events continue despite Sunday's rainy weather

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Just as the speaker for the Freedom Corner Veterans Day ceremony began to talk Sunday morning, the rain began to fall. It fell hard and steady.

Tom Meyer was on that corner Sunday morning. He looked around at the people and veterans who had come to the event and thought, "We've been in worse."

"At least the rain was coming straight down," he said.

Meyer was in the Navy Seabees -- construction battalions -- during the Vietnam War.

Meyer also went to the Re-Call to Formation in Arena Park Sunday afternoon. By then, the rain had stopped and the sun shone down on the ceremony.

Men and women stood in uniforms, patriotic accessories, blue jeans and suits for the national anthem, speeches by high-ranking military officers, taps and a general honoring of all they had given up for their country.

Bill Adams spoke at the Veterans Day ceremony at Freedom Corner in Capaha Park on Sunday with weather assistance from his wife, Jo Ann Adams, left, and Sheryl Smith. Adams recited "Ragged Old Flag" by Johnny Cash. (Fred Lynch)

Nov. 11 has been designated as a day for honoring veterans, but one Ohio teenager has decided to do it all year long.

Kyle Nappi, a 17-year-old from Ostrander, Ohio, started collecting military knowledge and memorabilia after he saw the movie "Pearl Harbor" when he was 11. The most notable collection of memorabilia is the nearly 1,700 autographs and stories he's collected from veterans.

"Once these veterans die off, their stories will be gone," Nappi said in a phone interview Sunday.

He said he started the project as "just a way to pass this on to future generations."

Nappi said he keeps the stories in three safes in his bedroom. He gets them by soliciting veteran's homes and by word-of-mouth, and he said he's hoping to get some from Cape Girardeau.

charris@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246