By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Star Group – Veterans Helping Veterans held its first POW-MIA Remembrance Day last Friday morning at the Korean War Memorial adjacent to the Killeen Civic & Conference Center.
The keynote speaker for the event was Edward Mullins, PhD, who served as mayor of Harker Heights from2005-2011.
During his years of military service, Mullins served combat tours in Vietnam at the platoon, company, battalion and brigade level, and was a prior 1/5 Cavalry commander at Fort Hood.
For the remembrance ceremony, Mullins said he wanted to talk about one of his missions.
“During one of those tours, I was ordered to rescue American prisoners being held by the VC,” he said, referring to the Viet Cong.
It was up in the mountains and Mullins was going in with a company of about 189 soldiers, and they knew absolute silence was imperative and they not give their position away.
“We then went through the jungle to the edge of the foothills where this POW camp was. We waited until dawn. Just as we were about to go up the hill into this camp, a helicopter flew over and parked right on top of the camp, so our secrecy had been broken and we raced up the hill.
“We got to the top, and there were four or five bamboo cages up there, big enough for a man, and food that was still cooking on the campfire. So, we missed them by just that much because of that idiot. We searched and we searched and we did not find them. I’ve often thought for the last 50 years about who we missed.
“Those men did not come home. No accolades, no stories in the paper. Throughout the rest of my tour there, we heard constant stories about Americans from that same area that were being used to carry equipment and packs by the VC down out of the mountains into the lowlands. We searched and we searched. We never found them.
“So I know in my heart that we left men to behind. This ceremony today is important. They may not still be alive. I don’t know. No one knows, but we owe them this honor.”
After Mullins spoke, a lineup of local veterans’ organizations placed wreaths at the site, and a reading was performed to spotlight a table set up on the grounds – the “Missing Man” table to honor prisoners of war and those missing in action. Each element on the table was symbolic, the white tablecloth symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to serve; a single red rose displayed in a vase, represents the lives of these Americans and their loved ones and friends who keep the faith while seeking answers; the red ribbon symbolizes the continued determination to account for our missing; a slice of lemon serves as a reminder of their bitter fate; captured and missing in a foreign land; salt symbolizes the tears of the missing and their families; a lighted candle reflects hope for their return; the Bible represents the strength gained through faith; the inverted glass symbolizes their inability to share a toast; and the chair is empty, the seat that remains unclaimed at the table.
Copperas Cove Mayor Pro Tem Vonya Hart represented the City of Copperas Cove and spoke the day’s purpose.
“We gather not only to honor their sacrifice, but to remind their families and our nation that they are never forgotten,” Hart said. “Here regionally, we are blessed with a strong military heritage and a community that stands shoulder to shoulder with those who serve. That spirit of support is embodied by organizations like Star Group Veterans Helping Veterans. Your dedication ensures that our heroes and their families are honored, remembered, and cared for, not just for today. As we pause in solemn remembrance, may we also renew our commitment to uphold the values for which these men and women served so greatly.”
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