The Missouri Veterans Commission is encouraging you to attend a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, at a veterans cemetery or veterans home.
The Missouri State Veterans home at St. James (2015 file photo courtesy of the Missouri Veterans Commission)
Veterans Commission spokesman Daniel Bell tells Missourinet the commission cares for our veterans in perpetuity.
“And this is a way for us to honor and remember and pay homage to their sacrifice, their courage and the selflessness that embodies military service,” Bell says.
Today’s service at the Jacksonville Veterans Cemetery near Moberly starts at 9 a.m.
The ceremonies at the Bloomfield, Higginsville and Fort Leonard Wood Veterans Cemeteries begin at 1, and the ceremony at the Springfield Veterans Cemetery starts at 1:30.
Bloomfield is located in southeast Missouri, and Higginville is in western Missouri.
Memorial Day ceremonies will also take place at three of Missouri’s veterans homes on Monday.
“It’s a way to preserve their memories, but also we try to get the next generation involved to remember their legacy,” says Bell. “It’s an ongoing thing to keep it going generational to remember what these men and women have done for our country.”
Monday morning’s ceremony at the Mexico Veterans Home in mid-Missouri begins at 9.
The St. Louis Veterans Home in Bellefontaine Neighbors has scheduled a 10 a.m. ceremony, and the Warrensburg Veterans Home’s ceremony is at 3 p.m.
The Missouri Veterans Commission operates seven veterans homes, with more than 1,300 beds, according to its website.
The commission is also encouraging residents to observe the national “moment of remembrance”, on this Memorial Day.
Bell says participation is voluntary and informal.
“Please take time to do what’s called the moment of remembrance, which is at 3 p.m. wherever location you’re at or whatever time zone, just take a moment of silence to remember those who served our country,” Bell says.
Bell says the moment of remembrance honors those who sacrificed for our freedom. Congress approved the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000.
Bell also praises volunteers from the American Legion, VFW, the Boy Scouts and other organizations, for placing American flags at the state veterans cemeteries.
The Memorial Day guest speakers at the state cemeteries are:
** Bloomfield: Col. Jack Jackson
** Ford Leonard Wood: Major Kent Savre, the Commanding General there
** Higginsville: Charles “Chuck” Lear, a U.S. Marine, Vietnam veteran and champion para-athlete archer
** Jacksonville: Macon County Associate Judge Phil Prewitt
** Springfield: Col. Dean Thompson, the associate general manager for Springfield City Utilities
Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Veterans Commission spokesman Daniel Bell, which was recorded on May 25, 2018: