Explanation of the Missing Man Table Ceremony that honors POW/MIAs.
By Dale Dutcher
At
noon on the first Saturday of every month, Rolling Thunder Inc, NC Chapter
IV conducts a Missing Man Table and Honors Ceremony on the North Carolina
State Capitol grounds in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This ceremony
is a strong reminder to all who witness it that we will never forget the
soldiers left behind on the battle fields in foreign lands. We will always
honor their service, their sacrifice for our freedom, and that we will always
strive to bring them home.
The Missing Man Table set up includes a small, round bistro table, a white
tablecloth, a single place setting, an inverted wine glass, a salt shaker,
a slice of lemon on a bread plate with a pile of spilled salt, a bible,
a small bud vase with a RED ribbon tied around it containing a single long
stem red rose, a lit candle, and an empty chair.
The
table is round to show our everlasting concern for our missing men and women.
The tablecloth is white symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering
the call to duty. The single red rose, displayed in a case, reminds us of
the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones and friends who keep
the faith, awaiting answers. The vase is tied with a red ribbon, a symbol
of our continued determination to account for our missing. A slice of lemon
on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured
or missing in a foreign land. The spilled salt symbolizes the tears endured
by those missing and their families who seek answers. The Bible represents
the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country,
founded as one nation, under God. The glass in inverted to symbolize their
inability to share this day's toast. The chair is empty because they are
missing.
Let us now observe a moment of silence to honor America's POW/MIAs and to
the success of our efforts to account for them now. Now, you know! Now you
can never forget!
