Remembering the fallen and missing at annual vigil
Veterans of the Vietnam War Jack Greer Memorial Post 52 has been holding annual vigils in Diamond Park for National POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1988, and there's a compelling reason that tradition continues Friday.
"It's to remind people we still have MIAs and POWs out there," said Phil Davis, the commander of Post 52. "People didn't come home that are unaccounted for."
The vigil to honor those people will take place from 6 p.m. to midnight. The traditional candle-lighting ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. During the ceremony, 89 candles will be lit in honor of the Pennsylvania soldiers still missing — a list that includes the names of three Crawford County men — along with candles representing each of the wars since World War I.
Among those attending the event will be Crawford County Commissioner Eric Henry. While he has not been a fixture at the vigil since 1988 like Davis, Henry has participated a number of times in the past.
"They do a really good job," Henry said of the vigil. "It's certainly a moving event. Whenever you get a chance to honor those that have served and sacrificed, it's worth it for us to be a part of that."
The occasion offers Post 52 to keep people updated on where things stand with the effort to locate and identify the remains of soldiers who remain missing in action. Davis said government efforts in that area have improved significantly over the years. The event also provides an occasion to recognize Crawford County veterans who were held as prisoners of war.
Sometimes such updates only come after the deaths of family members who spent years uncertain of their loved ones' status, according to Davis.
"One soldier I served with from Mercer county, he is still listed as MIA from Vietnam. His parents passed away and never knew what happened," he continued. "Some may never be identified, so we like to keep the word out, keep people thinking about them."
U.S. forces are stationed around the world right now, including members of Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team based in Cambridge Springs, Davis noted, "and anything can happen at any time."
It has been nearly 50 years since the last U.S. forces left Saigon, but Post 52 education outreach efforts show that the efforts of the soldiers who served there are still remembered. Davis said post members occasionally encounter the grandchildren of Vietnam veterans and even some who were POWs when they visit local schools.
"There's a connection here," he said.
As Vietnam veterans like Davis, who served from 1971 to 1972 in Pleiku, Vietnam, as an infantryman with the 1st Aviation Brigade 7/17th Air Cavalry "D" Troop, are getting older, one significant change has been the way they are recognized for their service. The reception from others has improved "drastically" compared to when they first returned from war, he said, a change he speculated was due to "different times." In fact, he added, it has become "pretty popular" to be a Vietnam veteran today.
"We get good recognition nowadays," Davis said. "People acknowledge us. It's totally different."
Mayor Jaime Kinder will participate in the Friday ceremony as well and urged others to attend in her concluding remarks at Meadville City Council's meeting Tuesday.
"We should all come out and support the veterans," Kinder said. "They've given a lot and it's our obligation to give back because they love this place too, so hopefully I'll see everybody there."
The vigil Friday will be followed by the annual Ride for Freedom on Saturday, a motorcycle ride that typically draws impressive numbers of participants — as many as 2,000 in years when the Moving Wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., was erected in Diamond Park.
"The smallest group we ever had was 127, and it was snowing that day," David said. "At least, there was snow in the air, I'll say."
You can go
The annual POW/MIA Vigil will take place Friday in Diamond Park from 6 p.m. to midnight with a candle-lighting ceremony at 8 p.m. On Saturday, staging for the annual Ride for Freedom begins at 11 a.m. at the Goat Bar, 11780 Route 618, Conneaut Lake. Riders will depart at 2 p.m. and travel to Diamond Park, where a short ceremony will take place at approximately 2:30.
