SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. -- After the festivities of Independence Day have passed, American Legion Post 624 of Sunrise Beach will offer a stark reminder of what that independence cost.
More like 400 reminders, actually.
From July 11-13, the photographs of more than 400 U.S. soldiers will be on display as part of the Remembering Our Fallen memorial at the post. The traveling memorials, a national effort of Patriotic Productions sponsored by Bellevue University, display the photographs of every soldier from specific states killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq since Sept. 11, 2001.
The American Legion post hosted the Missouri display in 2012, and has invited Remembering Our Fallen back to the Lake Area to memorialize soldiers not only from Missouri but also from three bordering states.
"At this time we're going to have Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri, which are the four states that basically populate the Lake Area, so the people who have moved away from those states can honor their fallen also," said John Hobey, American Legion Post 624 financial officer who coordinated the memorial. "Illinois doesn't have one, otherwise we would have brought them, too."
This will be the first time four states' memorials have been displayed together.
So far Bill and Evonne Williams, Patriotic Productions founders who sparked the Remembering Our Fallen effort, have constructed memorials for 11 states. Their goal is to complete all 50 by Memorial Day of 2016.
"Bringing these four displays together is a preview of how powerful these displays are and the tremendous price paid by our country's fallen and their families left to carry on," Bill Williams said. "The comfort it brings to our families is immeasurable, as their greatest fear is that their loved ones will be forgotten. This helps ease that fear, and it does so now to help the families now instead of waiting 60 years to build a memorial, like what we did for World War II veterans and families."
Between 500 and 600 people visited the Missouri memorial at the American Legion post in 2012, so Hobey has higher hopes for this year's expanded memorial.
"It's really a sombering thing when you walk through it," he said. "I would just like to see a lot of people come."
The post will provide an opening ceremony at noon July 11, with the colors presented by the post's honor guard and a brief introductory speech. The memorial will be open to the public from noon to 6 p.m. July 11-13, and there is no admission charge. The post is located at 852 American Legion Rd. in Sunrise Beach.
The event will coincide with the American Legion Riders' second annual Shine & Show Car and Bike Show from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 12. The show will welcome the Fallen Hero's Dream Ride, a 1951 Chevrolet pickup truck restored in honor of Lt. Cpl. Phillip Vinnedge, for the second year in a row. Vinnedge, a member of the Weapons Company of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment killed in action in 2010, had dreamed of restoring such a vehicle, and when he did not come home his family created the Fallen Hero's Dream Ride as a rolling memorial to build awareness of the sacrifices of fallen service men and women.
For more information about the Fallen Hero's Dream Ride, visit fallenherosdreamride.org, and for further information about Remembering Our Fallen, visit rememberingourfallen.org.