MONTICELLO – A handful of veterans gathered at the Sullivan County Government Center in Monticello on Friday to member those American service members still unaccounted for.
“They are commonly called POWs and MIAs; we call them veterans,” said Stephen Walsh of the county Veterans Service Agency.
Each year the county’s veterans hold a ceremony with a table set for one. “It is set for one and symbolizes the frailty of one prisoner alone against the oppressors,” Walsh said.
He described how each individual item on the table represents the suffering endured by MIAs and POW. “Until the day they come home, remember,” Walsh told those gathered.
Peter Carmeci Senior, a Vietnam era Navy veteran noted “there are still some POWs and MIAs still missing in action to this day and the war ended in ’72. This is dear to our hearts as combat veterans and our hearts go out to all the families who still haven’t had closer.”
He said the ceremony is held every year for the POWs/MIAs.
