POW/MIA: A Day of Remembrance

By Shelley D. Sheets, for the Southside Messenger

To see more photos of this event, go to http://southsidemessengerphotos.shutterfly.com. Photos by Shelly Sheets and April Hall

CHARLOTTE COURT HOUSE – At 11a.m. on Friday, September 16 on the lawn of Charlotte County’s Administrative Building, the Veterans of Foreign War, Post # 8902 hosted a very moving service complete with a dinner table set with all the trimmings for one. The seating for one is symbolic of the soldier that is not present because he/she is paying the ultimate sacrifice of being a Prisoner of War – Missing in Action. The third Friday of September has been set aside each year to honor those affected by Prisoners of War – Missing in Action.

County Administrator R.B. Clark read a proclamation regarding the Prisoners of War – Missing in Action by order of Charlotte County Board of Supervisors.

General Robert Tucker served as the honorary guest speaker. He gave a touching speech that provided numerous heart-wrenching facts including: there are 126 soldiers missing that served during the cold war, 600 U.S. military aircraft have been lost over the Himalaya Mountains that had 1,000 American military personnel staffing the vessels; now, none of them can be accounted for. One final staggering statistic shared is that there continues to be a grand total of 83,000 Prisoners of War – Missing in Action. Just to create a visual image of exactly how many POW-MIA there are, 83,000 is the approximate number of individuals that reside in the city of Suffolk, Virginia. General Tucker said that when he considers the POW-MIA, he uses the ratio of 18 to 1. The explanation for this quotient is that throughout General Tucker’s 40+ years of service in the U.S. Military, he has found that 18 individuals are closely affected by the soldier that became a Prisoner of War – Missing in Action. The 18 individuals include a soldier’s mother, father, sister(s), brother(s) and/or children.

In General Tucker’s closing remarks, he asked everyone present to do their part to honor those that served and sacrificed. Ask an American military member to share his/her own personal story of service and sacrifice. Then, you share the soldier’s story so our children will never forget those that have given so much. Let us all remember those that put country before self. Our American Prisoners of War – Missing in Action may be gone but should never be forgotten.