A museum in Perryville

Do we really need a new museum in Perryville, Mo., or is it something we can live without?

Does the effort of our veterans need to be remembered or do we let it be preserved by others? This is my first year as a retired person and I've spent most of my free time exploring those questions.

People in Perry County went off to war long before the county was even a dot on the map. In Silver Lake, overlooking the Grove, is a plaque marking the grave of John Manning, who fought in the Revolutionary War.

I have found in every cemetery soldiers from each war that this country has fought. All of them silenced with the passing of time, some forgotten with no one to remember their service to our country. Do you wonder if their generation promised them that they would never forget their efforts as we do to ours?

Building a museum is more than something we need to do; it's keeping our promise to never forget, remembering their sacrifices as soldiers and what they did to build our city and county.

It's an obligation that all of us need to take part in. I promise never to forget, will you? Come join us.

Respectfully,

MIKE LUNDY, vice president,

Perry County Military History Museum, Perryville, Mo.