A wreath to remember

  • Published
  • By RUTH KINGSLAND
  • Northwest Guardian
Ninety-two-year-old retired multiservice group and war veteran, Maj. Bob Meyer knows well what it’s like to be a prisoner of war. Meyer, who now lives near Belfair, Wash., served in the U.S. Army in World War II, the Air Force during the Korean War and, later, even enlisted in the Navy.

Two years after enlisting, when he was a 20-year-old buck private in the Army, Meyer was captured along with many of his fellow World War II Soldiers, on the third day of the Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 19, 1944, near Belgium. He had just been assigned there as an infantry replacement.

German forces had rolled in with tanks and pushed through a weak line of defense, “like water through a sieve,” Meyer said.

He said he had two choices: surrender or die.

Meyer recalled he was a prisoner: “Too damn long. It was five months but it felt like 500 years.”

That’s likely how many POWs felt through the years and various wars. Many have told similar stories, those who survived to tell their tales.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord honored Meyer and all POWs and those listed as missing in action during its annual week of remembrance events this week. The week began Monday with a Wreath Laying Ceremony at Memorial Grove Garden on McChord Field. Other events included a 24-hour POW/MIA Run Wednesday to Thursday and a Remembrance Luncheon at the McChord Field club.

“We are one nation,” said 1st Lt. Andrew VanZandt, 262nd Network Warfare Squadron, to the crowd assembled at the Wreath Laying Ceremony. “We are all proud to be Americans. But, the freedoms we enjoy today are not gained without a price.”

It’s important to remember the price paid by America’s service members through the years, VanZandt said, quoting America’s 40th president, Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

The wreath laying portion of the event was performed by Col. Daniel Morgan, JBLM commander; Col. Stephen Snelson, vice commander 62nd Airlift Wing; and retired Air Force Master Sgt. Elmer Clark, Washington state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Clark also spoke briefly at the event and there were moving renditions by service members of both the national anthem and “Taps.”

Master Sgt. Brandy Hite, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron first sergeant, is president of the Air Force Sergeants Association, which planned the week of events.

“It’s definitely important to remember and reflect on our POWs and MIAs,” said Hite. “Hearing from those who have lived through something like that gives you a different perspective. It helps you understand what it’s all about.”