Ceremony in downtown Bakersfield honors former POWs and 81,000 still missing in action

Always remember. Never forget.

It's a promise made to Americans who go off to war. It's a promise that says if you are captured and held prisoner, or you are lost to the fire and fog of war, you will not be forgotten.

Friday was National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and an annual remembrance was held just outside the Portrait of a Warrior Gallery in downtown Bakersfield.

"Welcome to our ceremony remembering and honoring our former prisoners of war and the over 81,000 of those who are still missing in action," said Bill Potter, a U.S. Navy veteran of Vietnam and the co-founder of the MIA Remembered Memorial expected to be opened in a matter of months.

Hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars District 6, VFW Post 97, and the Missing in Action Remembered Memorial, the morning event began with a prayer and a rendition of the national anthem sung by Tony Lee, a longtime singer and a board member with MIA Remembered.

VFW Post 97 Cmdr. Joe Munch, U.S. Army retired, pointed out to the gathering the Missing Man Table not far from the microphone, a small circular table with a white tablecloth, a single chair and several other items.

The table was arranged carefully to honor "our missing veterans who are with us in spirit," Munch said.

"The table is round to show our everlasting concern for our comrades. The tablecloth is white to symbolize the purity of their motives when answering the call of duty," he told the gathering.

The single red rose in a vase with a yellow ribbon tied to it; a single slice of lemon, a Bible and more, Munch explained, each with a symbolic purpose.

"The POW/MIA flag symbolizes our endeavor to never forget our comrades, and to continue in earnest to find them and discover their fate."

The morning event included the reciting of the names of men from Kern County who endured the suffering and deprivations as prisoners of war from World War II, the Korean War, and even one individual from the Vietnam War.

VFW District 6 Cmdr. Sal Cota, a U.S. Army veteran, spoke to the 50 or so mostly military veterans gathered at Friday's event.

"Today we stand together, not just to remember, but to reaffirm our commitment never to forget the brave men and women who have not returned home," Cota said.

For each person in attendance, he emphasized, it is "our duty" to carry forward the stories of those still missing.

Of the 81,198 still missing in action, 128 are from Kern County.

Their duplicated dog tags now hang at the entrance to the MIA Remembered Memorial still being built inside the Portrait of a Warrior Gallery on Eye Street, Potter said.

As the final gesture of the ceremony Friday, several guests were asked to read aloud the names of the 128 local boys who never had the chance to return home to the heart of their families and to the community that mourned their loss.

Alex Roese, one of those who attended Friday's solemn event, served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1991. He served in both the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, known as Operation Desert Storm.

"We can't forget them," Roese told The Californian following the ceremony. "We can't forget their sacrifice."

"Some people don't even know what decade World War II was fought," he said. "Some don't know what decade the Korean War was — and the Vietnam War.

"Within 20 years no one will think about Iraq and Afghanistan — if we don't remind them."

And that, he said, is why the ceremony is so important.