As of this year, more than 81,000 Americans remain missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars and other conflicts throughout the globe.
To help bring attention to that plight, officials from the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee recently held a ceremony to take part in National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor veterans who were held captive and returned, as well as those who are still missing. The event was held September 15 at Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Hattiesburg and included readings from members of the American Legion, VFW Post 5397, the Disabled American Veterans organization and VFW Post 3036.
“If you take away one thought from today’s program, let it be that you put that (81,000) number in your prayers,” said Ted Tibbett, chairman of the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee. “Pray for any POWs that are missing in action – brothers and sisters.
“And here’s something you can add to your prayer: that there isn’t another day in our lives that the number increases.”
As part of the ceremony, veterans displayed a “POW/MIA Table,” which featured several items that symbolize the struggle of those individuals captured or missing. Those items include:
- The small table itself, which symbolizes the frailty of one prisoner alone against his or her oppressors, along with the never-ending concern of their loved ones;
- A white tablecloth, which represents the purity of the POW and MIA response to their country’s call to arms;
- An empty chair, which symbolizes loved ones who are still missing;
- A Bible, which represents faith in a higher power, and the pledge to the United States that was founded as “One Nation, Under God,”
- A black napkin, which stands for the emptiness that the soldiers’ absence has left in the hearts of their families;
- A single red rose, which is a reminder of the soldiers’ families and loved ones;
- A red ribbon, which represents veterans’ love of country;
- A yellow candle and ribbon, representing the everlasting hope for a joyous reunion;
- A slice of lemon, representing the bitter fate of those captured or missing in a foreign land;
- A pinch of salt, which symbolizes the tears of the missing soldiers and their families who long for answers; and
- An empty glass, which is inverted to symbolize the missing soldiers’ inability to share a toast.
Officials also took the opportunity to honor Col. George Robert Hall, a Hattiesburg resident who was taken into captivity in North Vietnam in September 1965. He remained a prisoner of war for seven-and-a-half years before returning home in 1973.
“This park that we’re standing in … came about, in large part, because of the work and the efforts of Colonel Hall,” said Col. Sheila Varnado, who serves as chairperson of the committee and is a longtime friend of Hall. “We honor him today not just because of his devoted service to our great city, but also because we honor his memory as one who endured what we have gathered here today to remember and honor.”
Hall was born in Hattiesburg on June 18, 1930, and graduated from Hattiesburg High School in 1948. He spent one year at the University of Mississippi before entering the United States Naval Academy in 1949.
Hall joined the Air Force as a second lieutenant in 1953, and received his pilot wings in August 1954. He participated in various assignments before being named to the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan.
He began flying combat missions over Vietnam in May, 1963, and was forced to eject while flying his 196thmission, at which point he was captured by Vietnamese forces. Hall was released during Operation Homecoming, which saw the return of 591 American POWs held by North Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords that ended U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Hall retired from the Air Force on July 31, 1976.
In 2011, Hall was selected at the Hattiesburg Veteran of the Year by the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee.
“(Hall and I) always greeted each other respectfully, and you could almost say joyfully,” Varnado said. “I had not endured the hardships he had, but I appreciated deeply his supreme service and sacrifice, and he respected by endurance and devotion in service to our nation over the 27 years that I served.
“So from one colonel to another, we shared the joy of being home and alive.”
National POW/MIA Recognition Day was established in 1979 via a proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter. Since then, each subsequent president has issued an annual proclamation commemorating the third Friday in September as National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
A national-level ceremony is held each year for the event and is traditionally held at the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia.
