Nation’s POWs, MIAs honored in ceremony

Four black flags to remember and honor the country’s prisoners of war and missing in action were raised at half-mast yesterday morning at American Memorial Park.

Military and Veterans Affairs Office executive officer Ruth Coleman led the ceremony together with former prisoner of war Pete Callaghan and retired officers of the United States Army and Marine Corp.

Coleman said the flags would be flying for 24 hours to honor the POWs and MIAs of the U.S.

“The ceremony is our way to remember our comrades like the POWs and the missing ones and let them know that they are not forgotten,” Coleman said. She said the ceremony which started last year was also attended by war veterans.

Retired Lance Corp. Dustin Pangelinan was also present in the ceremony. Pangelinan was wounded during his deployment in Iraq last year. He said the event yesterday was very important and significant moment for the prisoners of war and the ones still missing in action.

“There are still some people missing today and never came home. This day is to remember them as well,” he said.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3457 retired officer Robert Woodruff said the event has always been held to show and give honor to his misfortune comrades during the war.

“In fact I still have friends who are missing from the Korean War in the ‘50s,” Woodruff said.

Callaghan was also present during the ceremony. Coleman said that Callaghan is the only prisoner of war on Saipan to receive state recognition last April. Callaghan earlier said more than a million Americans served in Vietnam and most went home and faced insults and jeers, making them feel like their service was not appreciated.

The honor he received in April, he said, was also for his fellow veterans.

Yesterday was also the National POW/MIA Recognition Day. VFW Saipan Post 3457 commander Barry Hirshbein said this day honored the commitments and sacrifices made by the nation’s prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one of the six days specified by law on which the black POW/MIA flags are flown over federal facilities and cemeteries, post offices, and military installations.

Hirshbein said in a press statement that there are 88,000 Americans listed as missing and unaccounted-for.

He said that World War II saw more than 130,000 Americans taken as prisoners of war and more than 78,000 Americans as missing in action. In Korea more that 7,100 were taken captive and more than 8,100 continue to be listed as missing in action. In Vietnam almost 800 POWs were taken and more than 2,500 were listed as missing, but that number is now nearing 1,800 due to search and recovery efforts by the U.S. government.

Retired Navy officer Fred Prosser and his wife, Kyle Calabrese of the American Red Cross, and AMP National Park ranger Sid Sablan also attended the event. Herman’s Bakery provided yesterday’s breakfast for the participants.