Spirit of Democracy

Join us for the 4th Annual Spirit of Democracy Banquet and Silent Auction hosted by the Stars and Stripes National Museum and Library. Our keynote speaker this year is Laura Rauch, a former Stars and Stripes combat photojournalist and war correspondent who captured the iconic photo of Pvt Kyle Hockenberry.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 4 at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau. Tickets are priced at $125 per person, and businesses can sponsor a table of 8 veterans for $1000. Table sponsors will receive recognition on our website and an ad in the Southeast Missourian.

The banquet and silent auction will showcase a plethora of fantastic items and services that have been generously donated to support the museum. There will be food, cash bar, raffles, and live entertainment.

Please purchase your tickets by October 16. We hope to see you there!

Keynote Speaker: Laura Rauch is a veteran newspaper and wire service correspondent whose assignments have taken her to more than 45 countries, covering everything from the Olympics to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She joined Stars and Stripes in 2011 as a Mideast reporter and quickly gained recognition for her work.
In 2011, Rauch won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism for her photograph of a wounded soldier being transported in a medevac helicopter to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. The photo captured Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry, who was injured in an improvised explosive device attack on June 15, 2011. The 19-year-old lost both legs and his left arm in the blast. The photo was the winner in the breaking news category for newspapers with circulation of 100,000 or more. Judges chose from more than 1,700 entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online.
Rauch’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Below are just some of the photos she took while working for Stars and Stripes.