The Warrenton Board of Aldermen took time to recognize two veterans and one active duty service member at the beginning of their May 21 meeting. Among others, Judge Richard Scheibe, Benjamin Sanders and Catherine Le will have their banners displayed around town for the next year. 

The banners are part of The Military Honoree Banner Program managed by the city. Interested parties can apply and nominate a veteran or service member and pay the city to produce and fly the banners. According to City Administrator Brandie Walters the city hangs new banners before Memorial Day and Veterans Day and they will hang in the city for a year before being removed. 

The banners are displayed on light posts along Highway 47 within the city limits and Booneslick Road in downtown Warrenton. The application to get a banner made and displayed in the city can be found on the city website under the Military Banner Program. 

There is a cost assessed to applicants depending on where they live; $100 for those who live within the city limits, $125 for those who live within the county but outside the city limits and $150 for applicants outside of the county. 

Honorees also have the opportunity to keep their banner once it is taken down after a year. Once removed they will be held at city hall for 30 days for pick-up. 

Honorees can also choose to fly the banners for another year, albeit with an additional payment. 

Proceeds from the application are appropriated in the city’s general fund according to City Clerk Melody Rugh. 

Scheibe was one of the veterans recognized at the meeting; his banner is currently hanging on one of the streetlights outside the Warren County Courthouse. 

Scheibe enlisted into the U.S. Army in 1990 and was involved in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. He served as an infantryman during the operation in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait before he was honorably discharged as a private, first class. 

He arrived in Saudi Arabia on Christmas Eve of 1990 and shared an anecdote that when the U.S. military was mobilizing for the operation; many of the service members involved, including Scheibe, were transported on commercial airliners. 

He originally heard about the program during a conversation with Warrenton Mayor Eric Schlueter about the banners where he learned about the process to apply, and he decided to move forward with his own banner. 

“I think it’s just a great program for the community at large, to give them an idea of how many have served, they’re living here,” Scheibe said. 

Another veteran recognized at the meeting was Benjamin Sanders, a Coast Guard veteran who served from 1997-2000. 

“I joined the Coast Guard right out of high school and took off to Panama City Beach to sail the Caribbean and North Atlantic for about three and a half years, and that was a fantastic time,” Sanders said. “I got to see and do a lot of things out there, migrant interdiction, drug operations and obviously, rescues at sea.”

His wife, Andrea, actually applied to the program for him as a gift, and he shared similar sentiments to Scheibe, that the program was important to recognize the service members in the community. 

“I think it’s good to show the community that we live there, that we’re proud of the community and I’m definitely proud of my time and service and what I was able to accomplish while I was there,” Sanders said. 

There was also one active service member recognized at the meeting, Catherine Le. She is a member of the Army National Guard and plans to commission as an officer and work as a recruiter, a process that she says is already well underway. 

“Right now I’m doing online school and then I’m working towards becoming a recruiter,” said Le. 

Their banners will hang along Highway 47 and Booneslick Road in Warrenton until next Memorial Day. Others interested in applying for the banner program can do so on the city’s website at: https://www.warrenton-mo.org/news/what_s_new/military_banner_program.