Cape Girardeau Soldier Finally Gets Due Respect

May 28, 2012 12:42 PM

Soldiers arrive to plant flags at graves in Section 60, an area largely used for those who died while serving in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, at Arlington National Cemetery May 24, 2012 in Washington, DC, ahead of Memorial Day to be marked on May 28, 2012. Members of the US Army’s Old Guard and others participated in the yearly event where small American flags are placed at over 220 thousand headstones in the cemetery reserved for members of the US military and those who served America. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/GettyImages)

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP)– A 95-year-old Cape Girardeau man who wanted his younger brother memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery has finally succeeded.

Dwight Barker’s brother, Maj. Emerson York Barker was 24 in 1944 when his plane disappeared. At the time, he was commanding the 419th Night Fighter Squadron that would eventually be assigned to the invasion of Japan.

Dwight Barker assembled information about his brother’s service record and decorations, which include the Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters. Arlington installed a marker in April memorializing his brother.

On June 13, Dwight Barker will realize his dream, joining family members at a ceremony with full military honors in remembrance of his little brother, 68 years almost to the day that he vanished above the Pacific.