According to American Legion Post 210 commander David Beaver, 15 years ago, it looked like Callaway County's traditional Veterans Day banquet was on its way out.
"We only had a few people attending," he said.
So the American Legion took a year off to plan a reboot for the tradition.
"We decided that our speakers would be either active-duty or recently active veterans, either from Callaway County or having lived a good chunk of their lives in Callaway County," he said.
That seems to have done the trick. At Friday's 97th annual Veteran's Day Banquet, more than 120 veterans, patriots and their families gathered in the Fulton Senior Center for good food, entertainment and remembrance.
The Callaway Singers, a local community choir, provided music for the evening, with attendees joining in enthusiastically on the national anthem and "God Bless America." Andrew Armstrong, the event's guest speaker, sang a solo during one song.
Beaver explained some of the American Legion's other programs.
"We're losing the greatest generation way too fast," Beaver said.
Part of the American Legion's annual recognition of veterans involves placing flags on every single veteran grave within city limits and offering flags to each of the 120 graveyards in Callaway County so others can do the same. He said in 2000, there were about 300 such graves in Fulton. Now there are 700.
Armstrong, a patrolman for the Missouri Highway Patrol and an Army veteran, gave a talk on his experience in the armed forces and how it shaped him into a man. The original planned guest speaker was promoted and deployed early last month.
"I was born into an extremely loving, God-fearing and strict home," Armstrong said. "When I was growing up, I thought I was poor. As an adult, I realized I was rich beyond measure."
While not very focused on school work, Armstrong was a skilled basketball player, ultimately going to community college and then university in New York on a basketball scholarship. When his grades dropped too low to keep the scholarship, however, he couldn't afford tuition. After moving in with his then-fiancee for a while, he enlisted in the Army without telling her. It was 1995.
"That was the beginning of the end for that relationship," he said.
He remembers riding with other new recruits to their basic training location.
The drill sergeant got in his face and yelled "You've crossed the tracks! You're mine now, boy!"
Armstrong said that was the beginning of him growing up.
He went on to advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, where he met both his future best friend (Douglas Solan, then a sergeant) and his future wife, Donna Lynn (then a waitress at a restaurant called Dugout). He and Solan were first stationed in Korea and then returned to Fort Leonard Wood.
"One night, the owner of (Dugout) was having karaoke," Armstrong said. "I got up and sang 'Fire and Rain' by James Taylor."
He went on to sing through the entire album. Donna Lynn told Solan she thought Armstrong was cute, and he officially introduce the two.
Armstrong finished his time in the service in 1999 and went to training school for the Missouri Highway Patrol.
"Once again, I'm getting yelled at," he said.
He nearly quit, but his wife convinced him to keep at it until the next weekend. He did and ended up staying in and graduating. While Callaway County wasn't his first choice to work, he and his wife came to regard it as home. They now have two sons: Alexander, 14, and Adam, 9.
Meanwhile, his friend Solan went on to be a major and earned multiple honors, including three Bronze Stars. After retiring, he committed suicide in 2013.
"PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is a real problem today," Armstrong said. "We're losing our vets to homelessness, addiction and depression."
He urged the banquet attendees to support veterans.
Later, during his closing remarks, Allen Nelson, an American Legion Member, pointed out while veterans may struggle, the populace has their backs.
"When I was in service in the '60s it was almost like you didn't want to wear the uniform," Nelson said. "Now you can wear it with pride."