POW/MIA recognition ceremony held in Ocala

Navy Master Chief Dexter Vance, right, background and Chief Warrant Officer Tim Simpson, left foreground, performed the symbolic POW/MIA table ceremony at a ceremony Sept. 20, 2024, at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park. [Photo by Andy Fillmore]

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Posted September 23, 2024 | By Andy Fillmore, andy@ocalagazette.com

A ceremony was held Sept. 20 at the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park to mark National POW/MIA Recognition Day 2024.

The local ceremony was one of many events held worldwide at military installations and veterans’ organizations to honor Americans who served in the country’s conflicts and were taken prisoners of war or remain missing in action. Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense and Air Force Gen. C. Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at a ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday.

“These heroes have faced trials many of us can scarcely imagine. Some were captured by enemy forces and held in horrific conditions. Others never made it home,” Brown stated according to defense.gov, the Department of Defense website.

The national observance was established in 1979 by a proclamation by then President Jimmy Carter to remember more than 80,000 Americans the DOD says are still missing from the country’s wars.

The local ceremony, sponsored by Marion County Veterans Services, included a posting of the colors by members of the Belleview High School Air Force JROTC; pledge of allegiance led by Samuel Coventry, president of the Ocali Society, Children of the American Revolution; and a rendition of the national anthem by Hannah Stuckey.

Navy Master Chief Dexter Vance and Chief Warrant Officer Tim Simpson performed the symbolic POW/MIA table ceremony, which Vance said focuses on “those unaccounted for” and whose personal sacrifice we must “never forget.”

Vance spoke of the meaning of symbolic objects as Simpson set them on the small round table with one empty chair.

A white tablecloth stood for the purity of intentions of the service member and a battlefield cross was added to the table symbolize the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard members who died for the country.

A yellow candle was added as a symbol for hope and illumination of the way home as several more items were added to the table.

Vance referred to the women who served and have been captured.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, “Since World War I, more than 142,000 Americans, including 85 women, have been captured and interned as POWs. Not included in this figure are nearly 93,000 Americans who were lost or never recovered.”

Keynote speaker Beverly Lafferty recounted the story of Capt. Edward Davis and his dog.

Davis was shot down after flying 57 missions over Vietnam and was held captive in the prison known as the Hanoi Hilton, Lafferty stated. She said Davis was a POW for seven and a half years and during that time he managed to befriend a dog known as Ma Co.

Davis suffered physical torture but remained resourceful and a “pillar of hope.” She said he managed to take the dog through the airport and home.

A mock bamboo cage used as a prison cell was displayed with a mannequin inside representing a cramped service member held captive.

Taps was played and John Earl provided bagpipe music.

Daniel Franklin, 12, memorized and delivered “As Time Goes On,” a tribute to POW/MIAs with a message to never forget our service members.

Daniel, a mentee with the local nonprofit Kut Different, was accompanied by his grandmother, Sheryl Roberts, and Kut Different mentor Myles McConico.

Roberts said Daniel was there to “honor veterans.”

Vietnam War Army veteran Ron Roobol, 81, served in the war from 1965 to 1966 as a combat engineer. He was on hand for the recognition ceremony and said he knew how the POWs “suffered” in the Vietnam War.

Dorothy Antonelli, a volunteer at the Marion County Veterans Exhibit and Education Center, which is adjacent to the park, has sought information for decades about her uncle, Peter Patete, then a 20-year-old Army sergeant who died in combat in North Korea in 1950.

According to the Department of Defense PIW/MIA Accounting Agency website, Patete’s remains have never been recovered.

Antonelli’s quest for closure for a family member has even taken her to the Korean DMZ.

“I have his picture right here,” she said as held up a photo of her uncle in uniform, which she was wearing in a locket on a necklace.

For information about America’s POWs and MIA service members and efforts by the government to locate and identify them, visit the Department of Defense PIW/MIA Accounting Agency website at dpaa.mil

To see more information about National POW/MIA Recognition Day, go to defense.gov/Spotlights/National-Pow-Mia-Recognition-Day