Today, Congressman Jason Smith joined veterans from Perryville to lead the flag exchange ceremony for Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial.
Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial is a non-profit organization based in Perryville that is dedicated to honoring our nation’s veterans. In March of 2017, the organization broke ground on a veteran’s memorial outside of Perryville that features a full-scale black granite replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C., as well as a welcome center, chapel and museum.
“Honoring our veterans is so important, but not everyone can make the trek to Washington, D.C.,” said Congressman Smith. “Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial is taking one of our nation’s most important memorials right to America’s heartland in Perryville.”
“The memorial wall in Perryville will serve as a place of remembrance and honor, for veterans and their families, just as the wall here in D.C. has for decades,” said Congressman Smith. “With this ceremony and these flags, we continue the process of linking these two memorials and give those Americans who have sacrificed beyond measure a place to call their own in Missouri.”
The ceremony kicks off the journey for more than 2,000 motorcyclists from around the country to escort an American flag and a P.O.W.-M.I.A. flag from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. to the sister wall location in Perryville.