Your View: Special Memorial Day

Hello Everyone,

As many of you are aware, the former Charlie Company Family Readiness Group sold cookbooks as a fundraiser after the company returned from their deployment to Iraq. The money raised, along with a very substantial donation from the Sikeston Jaycees Coalition for Charlie Company, was used to purchase a monument honoring the soldiers of Charlie Company who were deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005.

The monument was placed last November in Veterans Park in Sikeston, after receiving approval and support from the park board members and the city of Sikeston. The Veterans Park is located next to the Sikeston Municipal Airport on Malone Avenue and we are very grateful for their support.

There will be a dedication of this monument on Memorial Day, May 28th, at the park. This will be held after the Sikeston Annual Memorial Day Ceremony, which begins at 10:30 a.m. This has been a work of love in progress over the past couple of years and we have received much support from families, friend and the communities in the area.

A very special thanks goes to Linda Welter and her two sisters, Shelly and Dixie, for their many hours of hard work organizing and typing the recipes for the cookbook, as well as purchasing all the supplies. Also, a huge thank you to Mike Jensen, publisher for the Standard-Democrat, for printing the cookbooks at no cost to us.

We are sincerely grateful to the Sikeston Jaycees Coalition for Charlie Company, headed by Jeff and Norma Miles, for their continuous support of this project, just as they supported the company during their deployment. And of course, thank you to the folks who tirelessly sold the cookbooks over several months.

The monument displays the names of all Charlie Company soldiers who served in Iraq, along with the 1140th Engineer Battalion Staff.

A special thank you goes to Darryl Spurlock, the Charlie Company Webmaster, who gave us advice and assistance on the design of the monument and is responsible for the creation of the badger design. This has been a work of love in progress and we hope to have as many former Charlie Company soldiers, families and friends present as possible, along with Battalion Staff.

I do not have current e-mails for everyone, so please feel free to pass this on and spread the word to anyone whom you think might want to attend. We are so looking forward to seeing some familiar faces that day, while we honor the brave and dedicated soldiers of Charlie Company for their service. Thank you!

Charlie Company Rocks!!

Sondra Armour