ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. (Sept. 20, 2013) -- Service members and civilians observed the National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day on Friday, at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.
The weather was cool and overcast on the day where a solemn observation was taking place by Americans worldwide.
Col. Elmer Speights, Jr., RIA Garrison commander, gave a speech honoring those who have not yet come home. This was the first POW/MIA observance conducted by a RIA Garrison commander.
"Thank you for being here for our national observance, for those Prisoners of War and those who never came home and remain missing in action," said Speights. "This ceremony is our way of again welcoming home our POWs and assuring them that they were indeed not forgotten."
The guest of honor for the ceremony was Pfc. Lyle Herman Sheldon, POW during World War II. He was among the more than 1,300 members of the 34th Division, who were captured by elements of Rommel's Afrika Corps during the Battle of Fiad Pass, in February 1942. He survived multiple prison camps, being transported in overcrowded railroad boxcars with little food and water and forced marches of more than 300 miles.
"It is real special to have Mister Sheldon here," said Speights. "It is a reminder that we are losing about 100 WWII veterans everyday in this nation. Our national cemetery down the road does about 10 burials a day. To have a living, breathing member of that fight, here with us today, is priceless."
Speights spoke of two examples of POW/MIAs and the difficulties in their recovery.
On March 13, 1944, Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Valorie L. Pollard of Monterey, Calif. and Sgt. Dominick J. Licari of Frankfort, N.Y. were crewmembers of an A-20G Havoc bomber that failed to return to base in a country now known as Papua, New Guinea. The aircraft crashed after attacking enemy targets on the island. In 2012, the A-20G crash site in the mountains of New Guinea was excavated and the remains of Licari and Pollard were recovered. Pollard and Licari were buried as a group in a single casket, on Sept. 19, 2013, at Arlington National Cemetery.
"Chaplain (Capt.) Emil Kapaun was captured at the Battle of Unsan in 1950," said Speights.
"Kapaun died May 23, 1951, in a North Korean prison camp, was declared servant of God, the first step to sainthood (by the Roman Catholic Church), and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on April 11. He was buried in a mass grave, and is currently unrecovered. Many of the battlefields are currently covered with skyscrapers."
Speights, Sheldon and Command Sgt. Maj. Melissa Judkins, Garrison command sergeant major, laid a wreath at the POW/MIA memorial on Arsenal Island.
Also attending the ceremony were representatives from the Quad Cites mayors offices, local Congressional offices, and service members honoring their comrades in arms.
Once the formal ceremony was completed, the attendees went across the street to Memorial Field, and released balloons, which honored the more than 142,000 POWs and 83,000 MIAs, that served in American conflicts in the last century.
"As the bottom of the flag says, 'You Are Not Forgotten'," said Speights. "We need to observe every year, as a reminder to our nation, the sacrifices, our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen make around the world. It is a reminder to say thank you and continue to say thank you."
The National POW/MIA Recognition Day observance was established by a resolution by Congress on July 18, 1979. This observance was held on different dates during year, until President Ronald Reagan settled the date on the third Friday in September. A Presidential proclamation sets National POW/MIA Recognition Day annually. Many Americans take the time to remember those who were prisoners of war and those who are missing in action, as well as their families.
The Department of Defense Prisoner of War-Missing Personnel Office reports that there are still 83,417 Americans missing in action. That includes some 73,681 from WWII; 7,947 from the Korean War; 126 in the Cold War; 1,657 from the Vietnam War; and six from Iraq and other conflicts.
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