AEDC POW/MIA event raises nearly $2,000

  • Published
  • By Patrick Ary
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  It was one of the first cool, wet days of fall.

But that didn't stop AEDC workers from spending Sept. 15 recognizing those who have been left behind in the nation's conflicts.

Dozens turned out that wet Thursday morning for the start of AEDC's POW/MIA recognition ceremony.

"It's very special to me, being a retired Army officer," said Darrell Day, an AEDC financial manager and one of the event's organizers. "I served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and our fellow Soldiers and Airmen and Marines, they're like brothers to us. And the ones who are left behind, that's like a piece of our family that's still missing. And we need to bring them home."

AEDC commander Col. Michael Brewer kicked off the flag's journey around the base's running track - where it continued to travel throughout the day in the hands of anyone who wanted to support the cause.

The Smyrna chapter of the Rolling Thunder - a group that keeps the POW/MIA issue on the forefront - was invited to come take part in the day's activities, which included presentation of the POW/MIA flag by the base's honor guard, a table ceremony in honor of those who are missing and a burger burn during the middle of the day.

"It's incumbent upon all Americans to resolve where their men and women are from all the wars," said Rolling Thunder Smyrna chapter vice president Jim Phillipson. "Just think of the families that have a son, or a husband, or a father ... they are gone and they don't know where he's at or what happened."

The day was planned by AEDC's chapter of the American Society of Military Comptrollers. AEDC's Air Force Sergeants Association, Company Grade Officer Council, Junior Force Council and Top 4 also took part in the events to raise money for the local POW/MIA chapter and the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia.

Senior Airman Tara Kindermann, a financial services technician, spent the entire day coordinating the event in the wind and misting rain.

"I had anticipated it to maybe rain a little bit in the morning and then possibly clear up in the afternoon," Airman Kindermann said.

Despite less-than-ideal weather conditions, more than a hundred people took time away from their busy schedules to walk around the track in honor of those still missing - more than organizers expected. The five organizations that took part raised close to $2,000 through T-shirt sales, a burger burn and individual donations.

For those who carried the flag around the track, it was an honor to remember those who have not been found and the families they have left behind.

"I mean it's the least I could do," Airman Kindermann said. "I feel very privileged to carry the flag around the track."

Due to this year's large turnout, organizers say they plan to continue the tradition in the coming years. For Day, it's about making sure people remember the sacrifice made by some of the nation's armed services members.

"I think it's just like our freedom," Day said. "I think we take it for granted. If it's not at the forefront of our mind every day and we don't think about it, it'll be forgotten."

"No war is really popular," Phillipson said. "And the longer it goes on, people start to forget and get complacent. But they need to remember that the men and women are still out there on the lines every single day, and they're protecting our interests."