BENTON -- Those who have had family members from Scott County killed in one of our country's wars need to review the county's list.
Scott County commissioners discussed renovations, which include adding the names of those killed in action in the wars following World War I, to the Scott County War Memorial.
The memorial, which is located on the southeast corner of the courthouse's lot, currently only lists the names of those killed during World War I.
County Developer Joel Evans said U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's office sent a list of those killed in action from Scott County to Blair Moran of the Sikeston American Legion Post 114. The list has 89 names from World War II, 17 from the Vietnam War and eight from the Korean War.
"I got the list of names from Blair," he said. "There are fewer names than we talked about." Evans said officials initially thought there were about 200 killed in action from Scott County during World War II.
As prices from memorial vendors have included an additional charge per name, "that makes a big difference on the plaques," Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn said.
Evans said there are about 26 names on each of the existing bronze plaques listing those killed in action during World War I.
"So we're going to have four World War II plaques," said Commissioner Jamie Burger.
The new plaques will be cast bronze with raised letters that "match very closely to the original plaques," Evans said.
"We would encourage Scott County residents who have had family killed in action to check the Web site for errors and omissions. Once they are cast, they're cast - no changes can be made," he said. "On the Web site there's a list of the names that were provided by Jo Ann Emerson's office of those killed in action since World War I. Also on the Web site is the latest sketch of the proposed renovations including a rendering of one of the proposed plaques. There will be six additional plaques."
Presiding Commissioner Martin Priggel said in the event a resident dies in a current or future war, "I guess we'll have to add another plaque."
Because it will take a minimum of a month to cast the new plaques and officials are hoping to dedicate the renovations by Veterans Day, commissioners will open bids for the plaques on Aug. 10. Families need to submit any omitted names or corrections to county officials no later than Aug. 9.
"If there are any mistakes, there is information on the Web site on how to report errors or feel free to call me," Evans said.
Evans can be reached by calling the Scott County Courthouse at 573-545
-3549. The county's Web site is www.scottcountymo.com.