POW/MIA Missing Man Table to be on display at The War Memorial on Friday

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is annually observed on the third Friday in September, this year on Sept. 15. It honors those who were prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action, most associated with those who were POWs during the Vietnam War. The recognition day was established by an Act of Congress in 1998.

A POW/MIA Missing Man Table will be on display in the reflection room in the Fred M. Alger Center at The War Memorial on Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Each year at The War Memorial’s Veterans Day breakfast, a POW/MIA Missing Man Table is on display. The table, set off to the side, has a single chair, is set with a white tablecloth, a single candle, an inverted glass, and a single red rose in a vase, around which is tied a red or yellow ribbon. Set at the table is a plate containing a slice of lemon and a small amount of salt. It is placed in honor of POWs and those considered MIA.

For the POW/MIA Table, the tradition of setting a separate table in honor of prisoners of war and missing comrades has been in place since the end of the Vietnam War. The manner in which the table is decorated is full of special symbols to help remember those in arms.

The tablecloth represents the purity of each service member’s heart; the rose represents the loved ones of those missing; the ribbon conveys the hope that they will eventually return home; the lemon slice conveys the bitterness of their fate; while a pinch of salt represents the uncertainty. The glass represents the inability of those missing service members to share in a toast; while the lit candle serves as a beacon for their eventual return.

The Department of Defense estimates that more than 80,000 American service personnel are missing from previous conflicts and 38,000 are estimated to be recoverable.

Locally, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 154, based in Clinton Township, hosts a POW/MIA vigil. This year, the ceremony is set for Sept. 15 at the ‪Resurrection Cemetery Veterans Memorial‬ in Clinton Township. The cemetery is located at ‪18201 Clinton River Road.‬ The vigil begins at 3 p.m. with the reading of the names of the 48 individuals in the Vietnam War from Michigan, with a rifle volley and Taps by the Chapter 154 Honor Guard. The opening ceremony is at 6 p.m., with the vigil concluding at 8 p.m.

The keynote speaker is Sue Scott, an advocate for accounting for Americas warriors. Scott’s brother, Air Force Capt. Douglas D. Ferguson, was shot down over Laos in 1969. She is a charter member of the National League of POW/MIA Families.

VVA 154s website states there are over 83,000 serviceman and servicewomen from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf Wars and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have never been found, returned home and reunited with their families and loved ones.