A legacy of service

The Cape Girardeau County Historical Society has come into possession of some military memorabilia thanks to a man who was an avid collector of all things military. Robert "Red" Clifton (1930-2020) was a person who dedicated his life to the service of others.

According to his obituary, at the age of 18 he joined the Naval Reserve. One year later, in 1949, he enlisted in the Missouri National Guard, retiring after 30 years at the rank of sergeant first class in 1980. In 1957 Red became a patrolman with the Jackson Police Department and in 1974 became chief of police. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1990, completing 33 years of service to the city of Jackson.

His commitment to the service of this state and the city of Jackson didn't end with the police department. He belonged to New McKendree United Methodist Church and the Jackson Optimist Club, serving as president in the 1980s. Other memberships included the Elks Lodge, the Jackson Lions Club and the SEMO Military Jeep Club.

While the most important thing to Red was family -- his wife, Joyce Ann Lindsay, whom he married in 1950, and his four children, Penny, Joana, Julie and Joe -- he also had a love for the military. He and his wife, Joyce, traveled the country collecting military items. He had a small antique and collectible shop where he not only displayed those items, but some of the many military items he collected over the years.

The Historical Society came into possession of Red's military collection in 2021. For the past two-and-one-half years several volunteers have been going through this massive collection, sorting, identifying, cataloging and organizing hundreds of uniforms, thousands of patches and hats, helmets, medical equipment and many other pieces of militaria. The time period of the collection ranges from the Civil War, through World War I and II, Vietnam, both Desert Storm wars and a few other items from other wars. Finding some live ammunition resulted in a call to the bomb squad to check and remove the ammunition.

Since Cape Girardeau County doesn't currently have a military museum, the Historical Society has applied for and secured a Missouri Humanities grant to create educational tubs on military history to be loaned to schools and organizations. Topics of the tubs are food, medical supplies, the deadly Bataan Death March of WWII, which some local men survived, and a few more educational topics about war.

The Historical Society, due to a lack of space for a large exhibit, is having two display cases custom built as part of the grant and is partnering with the Jackson American Legion Post 158 to host one of the cases. Work on the collection will continue through 2024, culminating in the Historical Society's Autumn Banquet and the Jackson Veterans Day parade in November 2024. In the following months I will have a few articles on some of the topics from this collection, corresponding to the educational tubs.

Thanks to Red Clifton's interest in military history, his service to others continues to educate people about the importance of understanding the military history of our country and its relationship to our region.