In a ceremony held at the Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center as part of National POW/MIA Recognition Day, members of veterans organizations from throughout Central Texas joined Fort Hood Soldiers and their families in honoring the memory of those who “have endured and may still be enduring the agonies of pain, deprivation and internment.”
The ceremony included music from the 1st Cavalry Division band, posting of the colors by the 1st Cav. Div. Honor Guard, an honors ceremony, a wreath placing ceremony and concluded with the playing of taps.
During the honors ceremony, Command Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Jose T. Cruz, a member of a local Veterans of Foreign War post, pointed out the place settings at a table set for one. The table symbolized a missing member of the armed forces. Each of the place settings on the table symbolized different aspects of what the loss of this service member means to his family members, his friends, his comrades and his nation.
Head gear from each branch of military service were placed next to the table.
Texas State Representative Jimmie Don Aycock, a Vietnam veteran who once served at Fort Hood, Texas, spoke as the guest speaker during the event.
“It’s hard for us to imagine losing 50,000 plus and while each loss is important—each is painful,” said Aycock in his opening remarks and while speaking about deaths during the Vietnam War and then turning his focus to those missing in action. “But the thing many of us worried about the most was simply not coming back.”
“There are many families who (bear) the agony of simply not knowing,” added Aycock when speaking of the MIAs.
Aycock went on to say that veterans organizations, many of which were in attendance at the ceremony, helped create the movement that convinced the government to actively get involved in finding the remains of service members killed in the Vietnam and other wars.
“If your organizations continue to push, we will find those missing and their remains,” said Aycock. “I hope and pray we find them for the families who need answers and closure.”
“But our Soldiers must know that we will not forget them—whether you come home partially wounded or disabled or draped in a coffin—our nation is grateful,” added Aycock.
One retired Soldier in attendance, Ely Arzaga, a former prisoner of war, knows all too well about sacrifices. As a Filipino scout, Arzaga fought the Japanese and was eventually captured and then forced on the long journey known as the Bataan Death March.
After seeing his two brothers killed by the Japanese, Arzaga spent many years in a Japanese prison camp until being liberated in 1945. In 1951, Arzaga joined the U.S. Army and in 1953 ended up at Fort Hood, Texas where he became a member of the 1st Cavalry Division. In late 1970, Arzaga’s son, an F-4 Phantom pilot, was killed in Vietnam.
During the ceremony, Arzaga joined his wife Ana and Texas State Representative Aycock in laying a wreath at a memorial dedicated to the memory of POWs and MIAs.
“It was very awe-inspiring and you can feel the absence of those missing Soldiers,” said Arzaga. “I prefer to come to these ceremonies in the presence of others. Given a moment of silence here, by myself, I would fall down crying. But I’m holding my tears.”
Other veterans in attendance shared many of Arzaga’s sentiments.
“I come here every year and it is quite a solemn experience,” said John Footman, a Vietnam veteran and senior vice-president for the Military Order of the Purple Heart (Killeen Chapter). “It’s a great thing to be out here and support our fallen heroes and to support the Soldiers now.”
For Pensacola, Fla. native Pfc. Larisa Neskovic, a medic with Company A, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Cav. Div., the solemn occasion was one which she said she was honored to be a part of.
“You know that many of these (service members) gave their lives. The wreaths were beautiful but the (significance of this event) was not about the ceremony itself, but about the words spoken here,” said Neskovic. “It’s nice to know that for those people who came back home as POWs and for those who are missing in action that people will always remember them. God forbid something like that should ever happen to a fellow Soldier, but at least they would always be remembered.”
One of the things that made the event special according to Neskovic was having the opportunity to meet with veterans from many different wars.
“It was always good even in school to hear their stories,” said Neskovic. “They experienced a lot more in Korea, World War II or Vietnam than we could ever experience in Iraq. Knowing they come to these events means a lot and it means they care. It’s also good to know that they still support what we do, they’ve got our backs.”
Ronald Swift, a Korean War veteran and member of the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 222 (Killeen, Texas), salutes after laying a wreath at the POW/MIA memorial during a ceremony at Darnell Army Medical Center on Fort Hood, Texas Sept. 19. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)
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Prior to the beginning of a POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony, Vietnam and Korean War veterans (from left to right) Luther Winters, John Footman, Stan Rothstein and Ronald Swift share memories of lost comrades at the Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center on Fort Hood, Texas Sept. 19. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)
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A former POW, Ely Arzaga (center) joins his wife Ana and Texas State Representative Jimmie Don Aycock of House District 54 as they carry a wreath to be placed at the POW/MIA memorial at the Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center on Fort Hood, Texas Sept. 19. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)
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Alpha, N.J. native Spc. Chris Woodring (front), Killeen, Texas native Cpl. Gregory Bonine and other members of the 1st Cavalry Division Honor Guard march to the place where they will post the national colors Sept. 19 at Fort Hood, Texas during a ceremony held in honor of National POW/MIA Recognition Day. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)
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Texas State Representative Jimmie Don Aycock holds his wrist while explaining how Americans began to gain an awareness of the plight of POWs and MIAs in the 1980’s by wearing bracelets in remembrance of military members who never returned home. His comments came during a ceremony held Sept. 19 at Fort Hood, Texas to remember the sacrifices made by POWs/MIAs and their families. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)
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At a table set for one which represents a military member who is missing in action, Command Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Jose T. Cruz of a local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, points out place settings – each symbolizing aspects of the sense of loss felt by friends, family members and fellow comrades at the absence of a service member who never comes home. Cruz’s presentation was part of a ceremony held Sept. 19 at Fort Hood, Texas to honor the memory of U.S. POWs/MIAs. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Cupp, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs)