Trae Zipperer with By Memorial Day randomly chose Higginsville, MO as the location to visit a private or municipal cemetery in the state of Missouri to raise awareness about the condition of veteran headstones and grave markers. Road signs along I70 caught Trae's attention including Missouri Veterans State Cemetery, Whiteman Air Force Base, University of Central Missouri, and State Historic Site Confederate Monument. He was running out of daylight and needing a place to park the RV for the night. The sign for Arcadian Moon Winery and Brewery, a member of Harvest Hosts offering a free place to boondock, sealed the 60 second decision making process to take the exit.

Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Higginsville provided a perfect example of how the graves of American military heroes are to be maintained. Consistent with state and national cemeteries, this cemetery was beautiful, the stones were aligned as if with a laser, and the grounds were meticulously trimmed.

Adjacent to the state veterans cemetery was a Confederate Cemetery on the grounds of a 300 acre Missouri state park. It is quite possible the land for the state cemetery was carved out of the state park where once stood a retirement home for Confederate veterans. The Confederate monument advertised along I70 turned out to be a monument placed in the Confederate Cemetery to honor those 900 former soldiers who lived and died at the property.

The third cemetery visited was Higginsville City Cemetery. It was sad to see the poor condition of the veteran headstones and grave markers in the municipal cemetery. This random opportunity to display the contrast between veteran headstones in veteran cemeteries as compared to Missouri private and municipal cemeteries could not have been more extreme. Dirty veteran headstones were distributed throughout the Higginsville City Cemetery. The veteran headstones were in various conditions of neglect, all bad, covered in black algae, moss, lichens, and literally purple and white bird crap. Old metal American Legion flag holders were devoid of flags, bent, and tired of waiting. The condition of the veteran grave marker for World War II American hero Private First Class Leonard H. Lemler was despicable. Killed In Action on 8 Dec 1944 in France, PFC Lemler's stone was observed covered in black algae, splattered with bird squirts, and had no flag displayed. This is in the same Missouri town where a state veterans cemetery, a United States Air Force Base, and a Missouri state university are located. I trust the citizens of Higginsville, the State of Missouri, and the commander of Whiteman Air Force Base can find sufficient volunteers and funds to properly care for veteran hero graves within local private and municipal cemeteries.