Remembering Our POW/MIA Comrades

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is Friday, Sept. 21, 2012
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Post 10 has erected a POW/MIA display to preserve the memory of the over 88,000 warriors still listed as POW/MIA from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

"No loss is as painful to a family as that of a loved one who honored our Nation's call to arms, served their country, yet never returned from foreign battlefields" - DPMO 2003 Annual Report

The Post holds a ceremony each POW/MIA Recognition Day, which is the third Friday of September.

We hope this display helps each of us remember those who cannot be with us as we enter the social quarters.


Each element of the display holds a special meaning. It consists of a round table on a raised platform, with a white cloth, empty place setting, a single red rose in a vase tied with a red ribbon, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt, an inverted glass, a candle, a Bible, and an empty chair.

The round table symbolizes our everlasting concern for our people still missing, the white cloth the purity of their motives when answering the call of duty. The empty place represents all of our missing from each of the five services, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The red ribbon is a symbol of our continued determination for full accounting, the single red rose reminds us of the life of each of the missing and their loved ones and friends who keep the faith awaiting answers; the slice of lemon to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land; the pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers; the glass is inverted to symbolize their inability to share a toast; the candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home.

The chair is empty - they are missing.

 

The background image for this page is a photo of the Beirut Memorial, located in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
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