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Friday, Sep. 18, 2009

POW/MIA remembered at Museum of Aviation ceremony

WARNER ROBINS — Robins Air Force Base hosted an emotional tribute Thursday to America’s prisoners of war and service members missing in action at the Museum of Aviation.

The morning ceremony was attended by Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, commanding general of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, representatives from each military service, and a group of leather and denim-clad Vietnam veterans. All told, about 200 were in attendance.

The event was timed to honor National POW/MIA Recognition Day, which is today.

The star of the day was Tommy Clack, an Army artillery officer who was severely wounded during a firefight in Cambodia, losing both legs and his right arm in battle. Clack, who now serves with the Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs, spoke about the need to “take care of the warriors” during his remarks.

“America has always been one of those countries that has gone above and beyond (in finding missing troops),” Clack said. “We simply do not leave anyone behind.”

Jo Anne Shirley certainly has not. Her brother, Bobby Jones, was an Air Force flight surgeon when an F-4 he was flying in was lost over Vietnam. For nearly four decades, Jones was listed as missing in action.

Only last year did an American search committee find evidence that Jones was indeed killed when his plane crashed into Bach Ma mountain. Shirley and her mother — Christine Jones, who was also at the event — credit the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia for helping to find Jones and about 900 other POW/MIAs in Vietnam.

She urged the Robins audience to support the nonprofit organization, which she said is having trouble raising enough money to operate.

“We made a pledge to Bobby that we would do everything, we would do everything we could to bring him home,” Shirley said. She said that “hundreds” more POW/MIAs in Vietnam “can be identified and returned to their families.”

Time is working against the POW/MIA cause. As Vietnam veterans get older, the war in which they fought slips deeper into America’s consciousness. More than 1,700 Vietnam war veterans remain listed as missing in action.

“Those of us sitting here won’t see the end of this issue,” Clack said. “We won’t live long enough.”

Yet a network of supporters refuses to abandon the search for the remaining POW/MIA. A group of about 50 members of a Florida Chapter of Rolling Thunder attended Thursday’s event. The group will be driving to a similar event in Andersonville this weekend.

“This is what we’re all about,” Craig Hibbard, the chapter vice president. “Everything we do is for veterans.”

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is an annual effort to remember the POW/MIA cause. Military and Veterans Affairs facilities across the country will host ceremonies today to remember POW/MIA troops.

To contact writer Thomas L. Day, call 744-4489.