JAY – More than 50 people turned out Saturday to pay tribute to former prisoners of war and those still missing in action during the National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. They also came to honor those for who the new yardarm flags were dedicated.
Though President George W. Bush declared April 9, as the national recognition day, inclement weather pushed the Jay ceremony to Saturday.
In the bed of a pickup truck parked at the lot near the Prisoner of War-Missing in Action Remembrance Bridge, empty chairs represented each war in memory of those who have not returned. Written words on the truck stated, “You are not forgotten.”
The wheels of the truck had been covered with round placards, noting the wars and how many prisoners of war there were during each one: World War I, 4,452; World War II, 78,733; Korean War, 8,100; Vietnam, 1,889 and Persian Gulf, 3.
While those gathered listened to the speakers during the ceremony, the new flags that had been raised at noon rippled in the wind as the Androscoggin River flowed in the background. The American flag dedicated had draped the casket of veteran Terrance Hogan and was donated by his family. The POW/MIA flag was raised in honor of former POW Joseph Groomes Sr., and the Maine flag was raised in honor of today’s heroes.
John Dube, chairman of the Veterans of Foreign War Post 3335 POW/MIA Committee, said the president asked people to remember former American prisoners of war by honoring their sacrifices and their role in protecting the country and the liberty of mankind.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, said he believed the government owes a great debt to its veterans and he is working in Congress to ensure sure they get what is due them.
“Today we say we will never forget this sacrifice, and today we will say we’ll never give up hope to find out what happened with our loved ones,” Michaud said.
Dube saluted former POWs, Laurent Brochu, Jerry Iannucci, Charles Crafts, Ruel Burnham as well as family representatives of other POWs from the area either not in attendance or deceased. Those included POWs Joseph Groomes Sr., George Bradgon, John Grant, Harry Carroll and Phillip DiSotto.
A bouquet of red, white and blue carnations were presented to the POWs or their representatives. The red carnation stands for courage and willingness to sacrifice, their lives if necessary, said VFW Chaplain Candace Jackman. The white carnation stands for purity of purpose, she said, and the blue carnation for truth and fidelity.
Prior to the ceremony, former U.S. Army POW Laurent Brochu, now 83, said he was 21 when members his unit surrendered to the Germans during World War II in Italy.
The former Livermore Falls man, now of Bowdoin, said they had to surrender because the “Germans got the best of us.” The U.S. would later go on to win the war, and the soldiers who served in it have been called the “greatest generation.”
Brochu, a mortar man, was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Germany, where he spent a year and worked on a farm. He was one of about a dozen soldiers who had to milk 150 cows a day.
He was 22 when he was freed in 1945.
It’s kind of hard to remember now, Brochu said, but, “It felt very good to be freed.”
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