Back in the early 1920's the mothers and wives of the fallen heroes from "The Great War" got together to honor their sons and loved ones from St. Louis, Mo. This group later became know as the Gold Star Mothers. To honor the fallen heroes they commissioned Gold Star Plaques for each fallen hero, a total of 1185 were commissioned.
These Gold Star Plaques were set in the median of Kingshighway, a major north and south route in the city. Along with each plaque a tree was also planted.
This was all well and good until the 60's and again in the 80's when the city decided to widen the street by making the median smaller. The street workers started digging up the median and throwing the dirt and debri in dump trucks when one of the workers who happened to be a member of American Legion Post 15 saw the Gold Star Plaques. He contacted other members of the Post 15 and they went about to rescue the plaques. They managed to save 753 of the plaques.
These plaques sat in the basement of city owned Soldiers Memorial for a long time then moved to a garage. Now Post 15 is working hard to find the Gold Star Plaques a permenant home at the Jefferson Barracks Memorial Chapel were they will be on display for all to see.
