U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., observed today that it's unfortunate that many Americans view Memorial Day as largely a day for "really good sales at the mall and barbecues."

Luckily, she said, her father had instilled in his children that Memorial Day was really a time to "say 'thank you' " to veterans and their families.

Photos by Jo Mannies | Beacon staff

Stanley Gibson, 86, a WW II machine gunner, with his wife Vyrlene

Relatives stand by the gravestones of Jasper and Ora Lee Walton. Jasper Walton was an Army vet of WW II.

Her audience was several hundred like-minded folk, sweating in the sultry heat at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and acknowledging -- in prayer, song and presence -- the much greater sacrifices of the 180,000 soldiers and spouses buried in the graves surrounding them.

They included World War II veteran Stanley Gibson, now 86, who says he still makes a point of visiting the cemetery every Memorial Day, as a show of respect to his fellow veterans -- living and dead.

"We don't need a whole lot of praise ourselves," said Gibson, an Army machine gunner who after the war built a successful business as an auto parts distributor.

"When somebody comes by and takes my hand and says 'Thanks,' I say, 'Thank you,' " he added. Sixty-five years after the war's end, Gibson still recalls the pain and suffering on the World War II battlefields in France, Belgium, Germany, Holland and Austria -- key reasons he says he's never returned to Europe.

Rebecca Brown of O'Fallon, Mo., said that showing up at Jefferson Barracks was the least she could do to acknowledge the debt she and other Americans owe those willing to serve in the military, often facing life-threatening -- or life-ending -- challenges.

"In war, their feet are held to the fires of hell, yet they still stand," Brown said.

Lynn Dorrell, senior vice commander in Missouri of the American Legion, acknowledged as much in his address to Monday's cemetery crowd.

"Whether a war is popular or unpopular, the sacrifice is the same," Dorrell said. "Americans must remember that freedom is not free. ... Without the United States' military, the world would be a much more oppressive and darker place."

Photo by Bill Greenblatt | UPI

Nixon was one of the speakers at Jefferson Barracks.

Gov. Jay Nixon was among several speakers, including Dorrell, who took note that Memorial Day -- originally known as Decoration Day -- began as a day of remembrance after the Civil War.

Such Civil War ties were reflected in part of Monday's parade contingent who marched through the cemetery before the service.

Memorial Day was first officially observed on May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery, with many states following suit beginning in 1873.

Nixon cited the memorable 1873 Memorial Day address at Jefferson Barracks, delivered by Confederate Col. Alonzo W. Slayback, as he stood amid the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers.

"When conciliation comes mingling with our reverence for the dead, it subdues the heart and propitiates the understanding," Slayback said. "And what nobler tribute could be paid the dead than this, that not those alone who had been friends, but those who had been adversaries, too, should come to do honor to the hero in his grave?"

Nixon emphasized another passage: "Think not, my friends, that one of these has passed away in vain. In the economy of God, no death is premature where a human life is dedicated to an honest purpose."

But while recalling the past, U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, said Memorial Day is also about honoring the present sacrifices. He told of recently meeting a young Marine who had lost all four limbs during a bomb blast in Afghanistan.

What struck Carnahan was that the young man, while still hospitalized, was thinking only of recuperating enough so "he could greet his fellow Marines."

Observed Dorrell: "Remembering our fallen once a year is not enough."

But it is a start.