‘Missing man table’ recognizes lost service members

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Friday, Sept. 15 is National Prisoner of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day. It’s where people honor U.S. servicemen and servicewomen who went off to war and never came home.

At the La. State Capitol, the Department of Veterans Affairs set up a “missing man table” to recognize those who are still lost.

Each item on the table has a special meaning. The lemons represent a service member’s bitter fate. The saltshaker represents their family’s tears shed over them. The chair represents their return that’s still being waited on.

Mike Hasten helped set up the display. He believes it’s important to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“Just remember. Don’t forget these people who went off to defend us,” said Hasten. “We’re hoping they come home and everyone was hoping they would come home, but they didn’t.”

There are still over 81,000 missing service members. This is the 44th year recognizing National POW/MIA Day.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved.