Area newspapers make trip to Perryville

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More than 30 fellow newspaper owners, publishers, attorneys, editors, reporters and advertising representatives attended the annual Southeast Missouri Press Association’s annual meeting Thursday, July 15. The event took place at Robinson Construction’s event center.
The event included legal updates from Missouri Press Association attorney Jean Maneke, a discussion on diversity, equity and inclusion by Dr. Tamara Buck of Southeast Missouri State University as well as an interactive presentation on headlines and cutlines by Kim Robertson, editor of Leader Publications.
This year’s event featured visit to the Missouri National Vietnam Memorial. Col. Kevin Robinson, retired U.S. Army, gave a presentation on the memorial before the attendees were given a guided tour of the wall and the rest of the MNVM grounds.
“We’re dedicated to honoring our nation’s veterans and it’s more than just the wall. It’s a memorial to all veterans of all services. This is just how we got started.
“The wall just happens to be our centerpiece at this time,” Robinson said.
The site brings people together and provides a chance to reflect, according to Robinson.
“You wouldn’t believe the stories that come out of here,” he said.
It’s often an opportunity for family members and friends to hear veterans share their experience of service and is why it is often referred to as “a wall of healing,” Robinson noted.
“A lot of these stories have been bottled up for 50 years and they haven’t told anybody,” Robinson said. “ This is an emotional event. It gives them a place to connect with other veterans.
Legislation to complete a Vietnam memorial was approved in 1980.
Robinson explained how Maya Ying Lin submitted a design and among the 1,432 plus design submissions for a Vietnam memorial, she had the winning entry.
There were no names on the submissions, just numbers, according to Robinson.
“They wanted to incorporate the structures back into the land,” Robinson said. The designer’s vision was to have a knife open up the ground and, in time, it would be restored.
“This is an open wound that has healed,” Robinson said.

Robinson shared a quote from founder Jim Eddleman about the memorial. Eddleman donated the land for the memorial and told this to the Missouri governor at the dedication: “I used to grow crops here, now I grow people.”
“That’s the kind of guy he is,” Robinson said. “He loves the veterans and he loves to do this.”
A great deal of planning occurred before ground broke on the memorial, Robinson said.
“This was a blank canvas,” Robinson said. “Any good master plan, whether you’re building an airport or a memorial or whatever you’re building, you need to have a master plan
One of the design features is a yet-to-be-added reflection pool.
The memorial was dedicated in May 2019 when a grand opening took place.
“It was a good, emotional event,” Robinson said. “The buildings were about half-done.”
Robinson said the memorial offers a variety of opportunities for residents and visitors alike.
“We do everything from...we’ve got a display coming up for 9/11 with the lights they put on big trucks that you see up in the sky for the twin towers, we do flag burning for the Boy Scouts and all kinds of military events, the list just goes on and on and on. We’re always engaged with the community,” Robinson said. “This is not just for Perry County. This is for everybody. This is an opportunity for those veterans and their families that cannot get to that place (National Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.) to come here right in the Midwest.”
Executive director Nancy Guth said the Missouri National Veterans Memorial gets a couple thousand visitors a week
The site is privately funded.
“We have a good support group, that’s truly what it is,” Robinson said. “That support group continues to build, and with that comes the volunteers.”
One ongoing way veterans can connect with those at the site is through a weekly breakfast, which is held in the event center each Tuesday morning.
All of the food for the July 15 annual meeting, from coffee, meals and desserts, came from Perryville businesses.