Kadena honors prisoners of war, missing comrades

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Friday, Sept. 18, marks National POW/MIA Recognition Day and dozens of Kadena volunteers plan to pay tribute with a vigil run and reveille ceremony starting today.

Other Kadena Airmen have already paid tribute to their comrades who were held in captivity or have never returned home in their own ways.

For Staff Sgt. Jerimiah Walters, 18th Communications Squadron, paying tribute to POW/MIA servicemembers began earlier this year when he deployed to Vietnam in May as a member of the Joint Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Accounting Command's recovery team.

In May, the 11-year ground radio maintenance veteran served as a communications specialist while searching for the remains of a pilot from the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron (now Kadena's 44th Fighter Squadron) who was shot down over Vietnam in 1969.

"I've always been a big supporter of the POW/MIA cause and this [special duty] was a way for me to support the cause," Sergeant Walters said about his month-long experience living in the jungle combing soil samples for forensic evidence. "I'm not a pararescueman or in a tactical career field, so I felt like this was one of the most direct ways to contribute to the cause."

Before working with the team of explosive ordnance, life support, medics and a few other specialists each morning, Sergeant Walters had to walk parts of the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail to ensure the team had a clear signal in case of a medical emergency necessitating evacuation.

"We were told there were more than 240 metal detector hits in the area we were working in," Sergeant Walters said about the team's work site, a former North Vietnamese Army munitions storage area, which was classified as a high unexploded ordnance threat area. "I dealt with more ordnance there than I will deal with for the rest of my career I'm sure."

While Sergeant Walter's recovery team didn't recover any remains, two other teams in-country managed to recover remains and complete their mission.

"Whether we find remains or not, we're still contributing to the cause," he said. "If we're unsuccessful, we still help the next team narrow the search to find them."

Staff Sgt. Christopher Hummel, NCO-in-charge of the 18th Wing Public Affairs information technology section, appreciates the efforts of organizations like JPAC because his great uncle, Army Chief Warrant Officer John Hummel, never returned from a close air support mission over Laos in 1971. The AH-1 Cobra helicopter pilot and his co-pilot, William P. Milliner, have never been found.

"I think it's great that organizations like JPAC exist because it gives families closure and it allows them to pay their final respects to those who never made it back home," he said.
According to the Department of Defense records, approximately 80,000 servicemembers remain missing in action since the end of World War II.

Kadena volunteers began honoring POW/MIA servicemembers Thursday. Early morning commuters may have noticed the ubiquitous black POW/MIA flag being carried by runners on the Marek Park track.

Dozens of volunteers from Team Kadena kicked off a 24-hour POW/MIA Vigil Run today as a precursor to National POW/MIA Recognition Day Friday. As the vigil run ends Friday at 6 a.m., 320th Special Tactics Squadron Airmen will run the POW/MIA flag from Marek Park to the 18th Wing Headquarters in full-battle gear for a formal POW/MIA reveille ceremony scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. in front of the wing's flag pole.

"We must be able to link past challenges with our present challenges in order to understand how our conduct, compassion, leadership and missions will pave the way for future challenges to be resolved," said Tech. Sgt. Jessica Coombs, NCO Academy instructor and Air Force Sergeants Association representative who helped organize the event. "Recognition days provide us an opportunity to stop and reflect on these points and honors the service commitments of those heroes who have provided us the privilege to serve in the name of freedom."

Sergeant Coombs said all are invited to attend the reveille ceremony which will be represented by all four branches of the service in a joint honor guard detail as well as joint formations. The local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter will also participate in the ceremony.

For those interested in attending, the dress is uniform of the day or business casual for civilians. Due to limited Building 10 parking, a shuttle service will be provided from the Kadena Chapel 1 and the commissary parking areas to Building 10 between 5:45 and 6:15 a.m. and immediately following the ceremony.