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VA Center honors POWs and MIAs
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| D. B. Whitehead, followed by in order by five other members of the Keystone Heights AMVETS Ceremonial Team, Post 86, solemnly places on the table during the Table Ceremony, the hat of each branch of the U.S. Military beginning with the Merchant Marines, established June 12, 1775; the U.S. Army, established June 14, 1775; the U.S. Navy, established Oct. 13, 1775; the U.S. Marines, established Nov. 10, 1775; the U.S. Coast Guard, established Aug. 4, 1790 and the U.S. Air Force, established Sept. 18, 1947. MICHAEL MITSEFF/ Lake City Reporter |
Recognition Day ceremony observed at Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
By MICHAEL MITSEFF
mmitseff@lakecityreporter.com
Former prisoners of war and the memory of those missing in action were recognized by the Lake City VA Medical Center at its annual POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Friday morning.
The VA auditorium was standing-room only as several hundred veterans from World War II, the Vietnam War and the Korean Conflict joined a handful of former POWs to recognize each other’s sacrifice to keep our country free.
Featured speaker for the recognition day was Arthur Chadwick, 83, a former World War II POW who fought in the European Theatre with the 84th Infantry Division, from 1943 through 1946.
The division consisted almost exclusively of 18- to 20-year old students who were subsequently captured by the German’s, Chadwick said.
“We were put in Stalag IIA, near Rostock, a farming community where 100 political prisoners were being held,” Chadwick remembered. “The German’s couldn’t believe that these “students” could whip them,” he said, stating that they eventually did just that.
Chadwick said that the country may be on the verge of electing a former prisoner of war, and if it does “it will be an historic event.”
Only former prisoners of war have a unique understanding of freedom because they had it taken away by force, Chadwick said.
The recognition day ceremony began at 10 a.m. with the presentation of colors by the Columbia High School ROTC, directed by MSgt. Gratten McGroatry, the pledge of allegiance by Willie Merrell, Disabled American Veterans, Area I Executive Committee.
Julie Rattley, social work service, sang the national anthem and George M. Hemingway, Jr., VA Chaplain, gave the invocation.
Maureen Wilkes, acting associate director for the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System welcomed the attending veterans, POWs and their families and friends.
Wilkes, in her opening remarks said, “Throughout history, when the enemies of freedom were on the march and our country needed brave Americans to take up arms to stop their advance ... patriotic men and women defended our country ... and continue to stand watch for freedom.”
These men and women who fought bravely and stood in the gap for the rest of us are the veterans that are being recognized today, as are those “who remain unaccounted for and we wish their families some small comfort in knowing that America has not forgotten them,” Wilkes said.
One such veteran who stood in the gap was Herbert E. Pepper, 89, who fought with the 454th Ordinance in the 57th Bomber Group until his capture. He then spent three and a half years in Japan and the Philippines as a prisoner of war.
“We were being held across the bay from Nagasaki, working in a condemned mine,” Pepper said, envisioning the day as if he was still there. “The day they dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, we were deep in the mine and when we came out, all of us saw the mushroom cloud but we didn’t know what it was.
“We watched it float past our camp.”
The Keystone Heights AMVETS Ceremonial Team, Post 86, performed the Table Ceremony at the end of the recognition day speakers and music.
A round dinner table set with six places and six empty chairs is symbolic of the missing men and women’s spirit, it is round to show everlasting concern for missing comrades.
The table is set for the prisoners of war, missing in action and those still unaccounted for from all countries and wars.
The ceremony is carried out solemnly as Amazing Grace plays in the background.
First the lone candle that symbolizes the frailty of a prisoner alone, is lit as a guiding light to show them the way home. The Bible on the table represents sustaining strength gained through faith, the black ribbon on the candle reminds us that their
numbers increase.
The single red rose reminds us of loved ones and families who will never lost hope and they wait ...
The red, white and blue ribbon tied around the rose vase is a tangible reminder to all of us of our country’s flag and that their spirit will never die so long as we refuse to forget them.
A slice of lemon is on the bread plate as a bitter reminder of their fate if we do not bring them home; and the salt on their plates is symbolic of a family tears as they wait.
The glasses are inverted, not broken, as they may yet rise in a toast, but only if we do not stumble in our duty to bring them home; and the silverware is symbolic of their weapons and is untarnished as is their faith in our nation to protect and bring them home safely.
The empty chairs symbolize comrades, loved ones and their families; remember the comrades depended upon in battle, friends who love life and freedom, they depend on us to bring them home. Remember because there but for the grace of God, go we.
The Richardson Middle School Choral Ensemble, directed by Christy Robertson, sang “God Bless America,” “Song for the Unsung Hero” and “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee.)”
“We came not just to sing, but to show our appreciation for our veterans who helped to guarantee our freedoms,” Robertson said.
The VA auditorium was standing-room only as several hundred veterans from World War II, the Vietnam War and the Korean Conflict joined a handful of former POWs to recognize each other’s sacrifice to keep our country free.
Featured speaker for the recognition day was Arthur Chadwick, 83, a former World War II POW who fought in the European Theatre with the 84th Infantry Division, from 1943 through 1946.
The division consisted almost exclusively of 18- to 20-year old students who were subsequently captured by the German’s, Chadwick said.
“We were put in Stalag IIA, near Rostock, a farming community where 100 political prisoners were being held,” Chadwick remembered. “The German’s couldn’t believe that these “students” could whip them,” he said, stating that they eventually did just that.
Chadwick said that the country may be on the verge of electing a former prisoner of war, and if it does “it will be an historic event.”
Only former prisoners of war have a unique understanding of freedom because they had it taken away by force, Chadwick said.
The recognition day ceremony began at 10 a.m. with the presentation of colors by the Columbia High School ROTC, directed by MSgt. Gratten McGroatry, the pledge of allegiance by Willie Merrell, Disabled American Veterans, Area I Executive Committee.
Julie Rattley, social work service, sang the national anthem and George M. Hemingway, Jr., VA Chaplain, gave the invocation.
Maureen Wilkes, acting associate director for the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System welcomed the attending veterans, POWs and their families and friends.
Wilkes, in her opening remarks said, “Throughout history, when the enemies of freedom were on the march and our country needed brave Americans to take up arms to stop their advance ... patriotic men and women defended our country ... and continue to stand watch for freedom.”
These men and women who fought bravely and stood in the gap for the rest of us are the veterans that are being recognized today, as are those “who remain unaccounted for and we wish their families some small comfort in knowing that America has not forgotten them,” Wilkes said.
One such veteran who stood in the gap was Herbert E. Pepper, 89, who fought with the 454th Ordinance in the 57th Bomber Group until his capture. He then spent three and a half years in Japan and the Philippines as a prisoner of war.
“We were being held across the bay from Nagasaki, working in a condemned mine,” Pepper said, envisioning the day as if he was still there. “The day they dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, we were deep in the mine and when we came out, all of us saw the mushroom cloud but we didn’t know what it was.
“We watched it float past our camp.”
The Keystone Heights AMVETS Ceremonial Team, Post 86, performed the Table Ceremony at the end of the recognition day speakers and music.
A round dinner table set with six places and six empty chairs is symbolic of the missing men and women’s spirit, it is round to show everlasting concern for missing comrades.
The table is set for the prisoners of war, missing in action and those still unaccounted for from all countries and wars.
The ceremony is carried out solemnly as Amazing Grace plays in the background.
First the lone candle that symbolizes the frailty of a prisoner alone, is lit as a guiding light to show them the way home. The Bible on the table represents sustaining strength gained through faith, the black ribbon on the candle reminds us that their
numbers increase.
The single red rose reminds us of loved ones and families who will never lost hope and they wait ...
The red, white and blue ribbon tied around the rose vase is a tangible reminder to all of us of our country’s flag and that their spirit will never die so long as we refuse to forget them.
A slice of lemon is on the bread plate as a bitter reminder of their fate if we do not bring them home; and the salt on their plates is symbolic of a family tears as they wait.
The glasses are inverted, not broken, as they may yet rise in a toast, but only if we do not stumble in our duty to bring them home; and the silverware is symbolic of their weapons and is untarnished as is their faith in our nation to protect and bring them home safely.
The empty chairs symbolize comrades, loved ones and their families; remember the comrades depended upon in battle, friends who love life and freedom, they depend on us to bring them home. Remember because there but for the grace of God, go we.
The Richardson Middle School Choral Ensemble, directed by Christy Robertson, sang “God Bless America,” “Song for the Unsung Hero” and “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee.)”
“We came not just to sing, but to show our appreciation for our veterans who helped to guarantee our freedoms,” Robertson said.
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