The College of Health and Human Services at Southeast Missouri State University teamed with KRCU Public Radio on Nov. 11 to host the inaugural KRCU Koffee.
The event, hosted by the Cape Girardeau VFW Post 3838, was organized to honor the area's veterans. Breakfast and coffee were provided by My Daddy's Cheesecake and Starbucks.
Dr. Morris Jenkins, the dean of the College of Health and Human Services, gave opening remarks at the event.
"We're here first to remember our brothers and sisters who are not here," Jenkins, an enlisted veteran of both the Army and Marine Corps, said.
Jenkins understands the bonds that form among servicemen and women.
"If there is one brotherhood that stays firm, it's the United States Military," Jenkins said.
The honor guard presenting the colors during the opening ceremony were cadets in the Show Me Gold program at Southeast.
The program is an officer candidate program for the National Guard. The program currently has about 65 cadets and is led by Captains Tyson Mele and Scott McCollum.
The Show Me Gold flag bearers were comprised of Southeast freshmen Levi Murphy and Devontay Thompson, junior John Gilman and senior Caleb Jackson.
Gilman, a recreation and parks administration major, is a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, serving first with the military police and then with the combat engineers.
"I have been in the guard for eight years. I started at SEMO in 2008 taking one semester at a time," Gilman said. He later joined the Show Me Gold program.
"The Show Me Gold program is great, they handle all your school needs," Gilman said.
Major Jeremy McBroom, director of Military and Veterans Services at Southeast, discussed with those in attendance what he sees as declining patriotism in the younger generation.
McBroom cited the flag raising and ceremony by the Veterans Service Organization on Sept. 11 in front of Academic Hall.
"There were 3,000 flags on the lawn. The color guard was there, the band was there, the national anthem was playing and students were just milling about minding their own business," McBroom said.
Many veterans feel it is disrespectful to ignore the national anthem or the raising or lowering of the American flag.
McBroom added, "What do you do? As a veteran, I wanted to jump out of my skin and lash out at them."
Citing government surveys, McBroom noted that only 48 percent of Americans believe that America is the greatest country in the world and that number has steadily declined since 1948.
Thomas M. Meyer is a founding member of the SEMO Veteran Corps, which is an organization for Southeast alumni who are military veterans.
"In 1967 through 1975 a lot of us came back from Vietnam, and we went right back to school on our GI Bill," Meyer said. "At that point in time, we didn't really come back from a popular war because we didn't win. We banded together and supported ourselves."
The group now assists the Southeast veterans organizations and hosts an annual pig roast during homecoming.
Additional information about military programs at Southeast can be found at www.semo.edu/veterans.
