Page 14 - Desert Lightning News October 2015

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D-M hosts POW/MIA remembrance ceremony
Senior Airman Cheyenne A. Powers
355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE,
Ariz. -- A remembrance ceremony was held in
honor of prisoners of war and those missing in
action, Sept. 18.
Every year D-M alternates turns with the
Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health
Care System to host the ceremony. This year
D-M hosted the event at the Pima Air and
Space Museum.
The ceremony consisted of display tables with
prisoners of war memorabilia, a missing man
table ceremony, a guest speaker and concluded
with a missing man formation flyover.
Local Tucson veterans who were captured
during World War II, the Korean War, and the
Vietnam War provided memorabilia from their
experiences as POWs for the ceremonies attend-
ees to observe.
“Invitations were sent out to the local VFW
(Veterans of Foreign Wars) and VA hospital ad-
vertising the event, and I was provided with a
listing of known POWs that had attended previ-
ous POW/MIA events,” said Master Sgt. Dierdre
Mister, 355th Force Support Squadron first ser-
geant and event coordinator. “In addition, one of
my committee members had connections with
some of the local VFWs and the VA and knew a
few local POWs in the area so she reached out to
them via the phone and visits.”
The event began with a missing man table
ceremony. This symbolizes those who were not
able to be there for the event, such as those MIA
and those who were killed in action. The table
consisted of a white table cloth, a red rose, a red
ribbon, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt, a lighted he learned a lot about keeping faith.
candle, an inverted glass and an empty chair.
A white cloth symbolizes the purity of their
motives when answering the call to serve. A single
red rose reminds us of the lives of these Ameri-
cans and their loved ones. A yellow ribbon sym-
bolizes our continued determination to account
for them. A slice of lemon serves as a reminder
of their bitter fate. A pinch of salt symbolizes the
tears of the missing and their families. A lighted
candle reflects the hope for their return. The glass
is inverted to symbolize their inability to share a
toast. The chair is empty, they are missing.
Following the missing man table ceremony, re-
tired U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Kirk spoke about
his experiences as a POW during the Vietnam War.
During a fighter-bomber raid on Vietnam
Kirk’s F-105 Thunderchief was hit by antiaircraft
fire. Kirk was forced to eject out of his seat and
knocked unconscious.
When he became coherent he had landed and
was being beaten by local Vietnamese and immedi-
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Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Honor Guardsmen, stand at parade rest prior to a POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony at the Pima
Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz., Sept. 18. The ceremony was held to honor prisoners of war and those who are still missing
in action.
ately captured. He was then sent to the main prison
camp in Vietnam known as the ‘Hanoi Hilton.’
“The next morning they took me to a room
where two Vietnamese guys were sitting behind a
table in civilian clothes. They propped me up on
the floor with a box against my back and the first
thing out of their mouth was, ‘Kirk you are not a
prisoner of war, you are a war criminal, you have
committed crimes against the Vietnamese people,
and you will be tried and most likely shot. You will
now answer all of our questions.” Kirk said. anything. We must have been there for three hours
After enduring several torture methods and
27 days of solitary confinement, Kirk was moved
to a prison cell with one other POW. There they
shared a single bucket for a toilet and each had
a concrete bunk. They were fed a single piece of
bread and a bowl of soup twice a day.
Upon Kirk’s turn to empty their bucket, which
was the only time the POWs were allowed to spend
a few moments outside, a prison guard hit him on
the head with keys. Kirk already frustrated from be-
ing sick, snapped and pushed the guard. This landed
him two years of complete solitary confinement.
“They put me in leg irons for two weeks then
put me in solitary confinement. I never saw an-
other soul except the guards for two years in that
cell,” Kirk said.
Kirk explained that during his time as a POW
“The experience taught me some valuable les-
sons, to have faith in America, have faith in your
fellow man, faith in religion and faith in yourself,” my service and commitment to this great nation.
Kirk said.
In 1973, after spending five and a half years
as a POW, Kirk and the rest of the camp was
Desert Lightning News
(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Cheyenne A. Powers)
finally released.
“We knew the war had to end sooner or later.
They took us all outside and the camp commander
told us the war was over and if all goes well we would
go home soon. They gave us clothes the day before
we left then loaded us in trucks and buses and drove
us out to an airfield. A C-141 Starlifter came in to
land and we all started crying like babies because we
knew we were going home. They stopped the bus
and took us behind a hangar and we couldn’t see
and I thought we were going to go back to the camp.
Finally they marched us out to the C-141. Everyone
was internally excited but we were very quiet and
calm, when we got into the aircraft we were shaking
hands and hugging each other and so forth but no
noise. They closed the aircraft up, taxied out and as
soon as the aircraft left the ground everyone went
crazy. We couldn’t believe that we were actually go-
ing home until we were in the air. “ Kirk said.
To conclude the ceremony, the audience was
ushered outside to watch the missing man forma-
tion flyover performed by four A-10C Thunderbolt
IIs from the 357th Fighter Squadron. During the fly-
over a single A-10 broke away from the four ship
symbolizing those who are still missing in action.
The event had an more than 300 attendees.
“When I think about all of the sacrifices that oth-
ers have made to make this great nation what it is
today, it fills me with a patriotic sense of pride,” Mis-
ter said. “Being that I serve alongside these individu-
als also gives me an amazing sense of ownership. I
serve, as they have served, and knowing that at any
given time I can be in the same position strengthens