For those gathered at the Oak Harbor Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7392 Friday, Sept. 20 it was all about remembering.
“We remember those who gave their lives in service to our nation and to protect the freedoms we enjoy today,” said NAS Whidbey Command Chaplain Lt. Tim Loney, who spoke at the event. “Let us not forget their sacrifice.”
The rare rededication ceremony to the post’s POW/MIA memorial table brought a a tear to the eye of more than one veteran. Forty-one years to the date of the event, Sept. 20, Lt. Cmdrs. Harry Mossman and Roderick Lester of Oak Harbor launched from the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk to fulfill and mission in Vietnam from which they never returned.
“I had the immense honor of participating in the memorial ceremony on Aug. 30, 2004, as the repatriated remains of Lt. Cmdr. Harry Mossman were finally buried at the Tahoma National Cemetery,” Loney said. “It took over 30 years before his family could say their goodbyes and quit wondering what had happened to Lt. Cmdr. Harry Mossman.”
For this reason, Oak Harbor’s VFW post felt it important to rededicate its thoughts and efforts toward military and first responders who are MIA/POW.
The simple, round table is a physical reminder of any serviceman or woman who has not yet come home.
“We have to remember because we have been there,” said organizer said Myron Brundage, Sr. vice commander of the post and a Vietnam vet.
Post Cmdr. Cecil Pierce said the VFW normally has a small ceremony, but that this year’s was planned to be “up a notch” as a unique experience for local veterans.
“It’s a first for the post as far as I know,” Pierce said.
Unlike previous years the post is rededicating each symbolic item on the table and adding a few new elements to the event.
Like previous years, the event also remembered one of their own, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been a prisoner of war since June 30, 2009, when he was captured in Afghanistan by members of the Haqqani network.
However the location of the table was changed, a “quarter deck” style red carpet was rolled out, a bell-ringing ceremony was added and the items included on the table were brought in individually by the VFW Riders.
“The moment we forget out history we repeat it,” said Myron Brundage, Sr. vice commander and organizer of the special event. “Everyone that goes overseas should come back.”
While each branch of the service has its own unique interpretation of the table’s symbols, they are all essentially the same, providing small remembrances of the country’s prisoners of war and missing in action servicemen and women, Brundage said.
The table is set for one, symbolizing a prisoner’s solitude. The tablecloth is white for the purity of their service. The single red rose calls to mind the families awaiting the return of their loved one. The candle is lit symbolizing the unconquerable spirit.
Lemon and salt are on the plate reminding of their bitter fate and the salt of their families’ tears.
The glass is inverted because they cannot toast, and the chair is empty because they are not here. Two members of the state Honor Guard assisted with the ceremony, Keith Waldridge and Darrell Small, along with the Patriot Guard Riders who provided a flag line, with flags courtesy of the Oak Harbor Lion’s Club.
“People who are killed in action, and POW and MIA … how can you better define your love for your country?” Brundage said.
The ceremony also featured a “missing man” hat ceremony with six places set for each branch of the military and civilian first responders.
When asked why he believes remembering is so important, Brundage fought back a tear and said, “How can you not?”
