Families of missing service members and local veterans got together on Friday to commemorate National POW/MIA Recognition Day with an event at the Kane County Veterans Memorial in Geneva.
Members of Geneva American Legion Post 75 and St. Charles American Legion Post 342 and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 693 joined local officials for the ceremony.
The event was organized by Geneva residents Bill and Traci Wood, along with their families, who once again were honoring their uncles, Air Force Maj. Ronald Mayercik and the Navy’s Thomas Pilkington, who are still listed as missing in action from the Vietnam War.
Traci Wood spoke before the event and emphasized the one-hour program Friday was about “raising awareness for those missing in action.”
“We’ve been active for many years with this issue with other Vietnam and World War II and Korean War families,” she said. “I am a third generation and my grandparents got the call back in 1967 that my uncle was missing and they began pressing this issue since then. My mom took the mantle and did the public awareness event and now I’m doing it. My daughter is also involved now.”
Kate Wood, 17, who attends Geneva High School, said “I feel it’s important for people my age to have knowledge about the issue.”
“I know a lot of my friends, I told them I’m speaking at this today and they said, ‘What’s that?’ and it kind of hurts my heart,” she said just before speaking Friday morning. “It’s my family and I want to spread as much information about the issue as I can.”
A press release from the Wood family said that “over 81,000 service members are still missing and unaccounted for from all past conflicts and wars.”
“Today there are 4,129 service members still missing and unaccounted for from the state of Illinois,” the release said.
Traci Wood said she and others “have bounced around the country” doing events to raise awareness of the POW/MIA cause. She said she has been holding local ceremonies the past five years. Wood has also worked to establish a permanent POW/MIA Recognition Day here in Illinois.
“We are working with our state representatives and senators because every year I have to go on the computer, put in the proclamation, and then every year the governor spits out the proclamation for me,” she said.
This year’s proclamation was signed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker back on July 31, she said.
“In Washington, they have a big ceremony every year at the Pentagon and I’m trying to push Illinois to do something similar and have a permanent day,” she said.
Laurie Burns of Geneva noted her uncle Thomas Pilkington is listed as missing in action.
“It’s a shame that people don’t recognize these men enough and it’s something that we look at every year,” she said. “I have a family member that is missing and a lot of this is about getting closure. If I could have an answer – my grandmother fought for getting an answer and my mom did and now it’s my generation and it shouldn’t be. And now we have to put it on to our children.”
Jim Flood of St. Charles American Legion Post 342 said National POW/MIA Recognition Day is an important day to reflect on those still missing.
“I believe this day is all about bringing closure to the families who still have no idea about what happened to their loved ones,” he said Friday. “I was at a meeting yesterday and the United States’ military along with civil archeologists and so forth still go over to Vietnam and they have specific areas where are searching to this day. The gentleman I spoke with yesterday actually found a dog tag from a downed aircraft and they also found a weapon. They couldn’t take the engine or the weapon but they did bring the dog tag back and that brought closure to that family.”
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns called Friday’s ceremony “an important and meaningful event.”
“Those who are POWs or MIA deserve our constant recognition and thanks and appreciation and our constant search,” Burns said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.