Almost Yesterday

It seems like almost yesterday that three veterans of the American Revolution were honored with appropriate markers at Old Bethel Cemetery south of Jackson, Missouri. The three patriots participated in the Revolutionary War and between 1797 and 1806 moved to the Jackson area, acquired land, and joined what is now called “Old Bethel Baptist Church.” “Old Bethel” has been restored, the cemetery refurbished, and the site made accessible for interpreting the early history of Southeast Missouri.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Ronald Reagan came to Sikeston , Missouri to serve as the speaker at the annual banquet of the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce. The year was 1965 and Reagan had only recently emerged as a national political figure following the 1964 Republican National Convention. Reagan brought his emerging appeal to Southeast Missouri where Republicans were beginning to show strength. Here he argued that high taxes, social programs, and governmental regulations were strangling

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the movie, “The Gangs of New York” shocked American audiences with its graphic portrayal of New York City in the middle of the nineteenth century. Martin Scorsese’s 2002 production is a shockingly violent account of the gangland struggle for the territorial control of lower Manhattan. The film grossed over two hundred million dollars and won a number of significant awards for direction, acting and music. Ticket sales were helped by the publicity surrounding

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the Roberts, Johnson and Rand Shoe Company of St. Louis opened a manufacturing plant in Cape Girardeau . The date was September 9, 1907 and this proved to be a significant development in the economic growth of the city. In 1900 Cape Girardeau was a small community of fewer than 5000 residents. But it was eager to grow. In 1904 a railroad connected Cape to St. Louis, enabling residents to visit the World’s Fair and bringing frequent visitors from St. Louis.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Warren Eastman Hearnes became governor of Missouri. Born in Moline, Illinois, on July 24, 1923, Hearnes grew up in Charleston, Missouri, the county seat of Mississippi County, a place he called home for the remainder of his life. While in high school he determined that he wanted to attend West Point in pursuit of a military career. The desired appointment was received and he graduated from the academy in the class of 1946. In 1947, Hearnes married his high

It seems like almost yesterday that George Frederick Bollinger led a contingent of North Carolinians across the Mississippi River into Missouri. The young Mr. Bollinger had visited the small community of Cape Girardeau in 1797, established a friendship with Louis Lorimier who encouraged him to return to North Carolina and bring more settlers to the area. Bollinger did so and after the autumn harvest of 1799 a group of eager adventurers set out from their farmsteads in North Carolina for the

It seems like Almost Yesterday that the first commercial airplane landed at Chicago's Municipal Airport, later Midway Airport. The plane came in from Omaha, Nebraska, with passengers and several bags of mail. The date was December 1, 1927, and it was an historic first for aviation in Chicago. The Boeing Aircraft was piloted by Ira Oris Biffle, from Patton, Missouri. Biffle was born on September 14, 1886, the son of Valentine and Matilda Berry Biffle. Biffle spent his first eighteen years on the

It seems like Almost Yesterday that a young man from Farmington, Missouri, walked on to the pitcher’s mound in New York’s Yankee Stadium for the first game in his major league baseball career. It was Saturday, June 28, 1980, when twenty-four year old Tim Lollar pitched the seventh and eighth innings against the Cleveland Indians, a game the Yankees won, eleven to ten. This game began a seven year, one-hundred ninety-nine game career by Lollar, who was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri in 1956.

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Richard G. Wilson became the only resident of Cape Girardeau to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest military honor. Wilson was born August 19, 1931, in Marion, Ill., but grew up in Cape Girardeau in a family of seven children. On August 19, 1948 – his 17th birthday – he enlisted in the army and reported to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he was trained as a medic. He volunteered for Airborne School and was assigned to Fort

It seems like Almost Yesterday that Ken Sisler of Dexter, Mo., received our nation’s highest award for valor: the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Sisler was born in Dexter Sept. 19, 1937, graduated from Dexter High School in 1955, attended Arkansas State University, spent five years in the Air Force, and then returned to Arkansas State where he graduated in 1964. In 1963, he won the National Collegiate Skydiving Championship while competing with his leg in a cast. In 1965, Sisler