Photo By Scott Sturkol | Maj. Randy Downs with the U.S. Army Funeral Honors Team from U.S. Army Garrison-Fort...... read more read more
Subscribe
Every September, America remembers its former prisoners of war (POW) as well as those who went missing in action (MIA) fighting for the nation on the battlefront during National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
The day falls on the third Friday of September every year, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
“National POW/MIA Recognition Day was established in 1979 through a proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter,” states the DPAA website at https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaFamWebPosters. “Since then, each subsequent president has issued an annual proclamation commemorating the third Friday in September as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. A national-level ceremony is held on every National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Traditionally held at the Pentagon, it features members from each branch of military service and participation from high-ranking officials.
“In addition to the national-level ceremony, observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans’ facilities,” the website states. “No matter where they are held, these National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremonies share the common purpose of honoring those who were held captive and returned, as well as those who remain missing.”
Recent events in Wisconsin have proven the effectiveness of DPAA and their commitment to finding the missing as well as recognizing former POWs.
In October 2023, Fort McCoy Soldiers supported the return to Cashton, Wis., of Pfc. Charles Dickman during a Mass of Christian burial for Dickman.
Pfc. Charles Dickman was only 17 years old when he died fighting in the Korean War on July 12, 1950, as a heavy weapons infantryman with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. But he never made it home.
“He was reported missing in action on July 12, 1950, near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea, as his regiment engaged in a series of delaying actions to buy time for reinforcements and resupply as they withdrew from the area to avoid being surrounded by North Korean forces,” a DPAA news release states. “He was not seen to fall in battle, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. After regaining control of Chochiwon in the fall of 1950, the Army began recovering remains from the area and temporarily interring them at the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) Taejon.
“However, Pfc. Dickman’s remains were not identified among those recovered from the area, and in 1953, the Department of the Army issued him a presumptive finding of death. The unidentified remains from UNMC were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, as Korean War Unknowns,” the release states.
But in 2023, Dickman was finally identified and brought home to the city where the Veterans of Wars post is even named after him. During the funeral mass, Father Michael Klos of Sacred Heart Catholic Church spoke to those who gathered, noting that the Soldier who was missing from his community for so long was “having come home at long last … after 73 years.”
Most of Dickman’s immediate family are now deceased, including his parents and many of his siblings. However, a surviving family member, a sister — Patricia Filut — was there with many nieces and nephews of Dickman to remember him. Klos mentioned that all of the family would be glad to know this day had come where Charles had returned home.
“It is a good and beautiful thing for us to be gathered here today,” Klos said. “To all (who) would be in this a wonderful moment for the family to have closure. They would remember him so well.”
Maj. Randy Downs of Fort McCoy Garrison led the U.S. Army Funeral Honors Team for Dickman. He said it was an honor for the team to support the return home of a former MIA Soldier.
“Speaking on behalf of our team, please know it was truly an honor to support a fellow brother in arms, Pfc. Charles Dickman’s homecoming and transition to his final resting place on this great nation’s soil,” Downs said.
“It gives our team peace and joy knowing his sister received closure at 93 years old, and he received the honor he deserves,” Downs said. “It serves as a reminder to remember and appreciate those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the values we hold dear. His story is one I will remember and share for the rest of my life.”
And on Aug. 26, 2024, another team of Soldiers from Fort McCoy also supported the return to Wisconsin of a former POW — former World War II POW Sgt. Jack Hohlfeld.
Numerous current and even some former Soldiers associated with Fort McCoy took time Aug. 26 to be part of the special Mass of Christian Burial for former World War II POW Sgt. Jack Hohlfeld who was returned home from having been found in the Philippines earlier in 2024.
Soldiers with Fort McCoy Garrison and the 86th Training Division were among the hundreds of people at the Hohlfeld service in St. Patrick Parish in Onalaska, Wis., and at the Catholic Cemetery in La Crosse, Wis.
From the 86th, and in probably one of the most important jobs of the day for the event, seven Soldiers served as the pallbearer/flag folding team for Hohlfeld. Those Soldiers included Maj. Steven Kelly, Capt. Jiaru Bryar, Sgt. Maj. Abdul Parsons-Bey, 1st Sgt. Matt Hardin, Master Sgt. Kristy Roemer, Staff Sgt. Haley Dexter, and Sgt. Dalton Bruser.
In July, the DPAA announced it had identified Hohlfeld and would bring him home. The identification was made conclusive in May. And in August he was brought home.
“U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Jack H. Hohlfeld, 29, of Trempealeau, Wis., who was captured and died as a prisoner of war during World War II, was accounted for May 29, 2024,” a DPAA news release stated. “Hohlfeld was a member of Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. Intense fighting continued until the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and of Corregidor Island on May 6, 1942.
“Thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members were captured and interned at POW camps. Hohlfeld was among those reported captured when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March. Hohlfeld was then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp #1. More than 2,500 POWs perished in this camp during the war.”
A member of the pallbearer/flag folding team — Dexter — said she was honored to help bring him home.
“Serving as one of Sgt. Hohlfeld’s pallbearers was an immense honor,” Dexter said. “His story inspired me to delve deeper into the history of the Bataan Death March and the POW camps of World War II. I’ve made it my mission to ensure that the sacrifices of these courageous service members are remembered. It was a deeply meaningful experience, watching the family and community come together to honor his legacy.”
The stories of Dickman and Hohlfeld are just two of many that are testament to the importance of the effort of DPAA as well as the need to remember POW/MIA service members during National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
That sentiment was likely fully repeated in the words of Monsignor Steve Kachel with St. Patrick Parish who spoke about Hohlfeld during his service.
“If one were to look at the definition of the word hero, we would find out that a hero is one who is admired or idealize for courage, outstanding achievements, and noble quality,” Kachel said. “We are gathered in this church as we have brought home a real hero and laid him to rest in his home city near his parents. And we know Jack was a hero for the courage that he showed in the face of evil. The courage that gave him stamina in prison and at the death march. … And the courage … shown as a prisoner of war until he succumbed to polio in prison. For Jack had the courage to fulfill a duty to serve, to honor, and to fight for his country.”
Learn more about the DPAA by visiting https://www.dpaa.mil. Learn more about the origins of National POW/MIA Recognition Day by visiting https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2772567.
Also, learn more about the Dickman return home by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/news/457075/home-after-73-years-fort-mccoy-soldiers-pay-honors-korean-war-hero-local-community. And learn more about Hohlfeld’s return home by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/news/481410/remembering-pows-america-remembers-bataan-death-march-veteran-sgt-jack-hohlfeld-with-special-service-welcomes-him-home-wisconsin.
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2024 23:07 |
| Story ID: | 481687 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, National POW/MIA Recognition Day brings a chance every September to remember POWs, those who are still unaccounted for, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
