Archive: Around Town

You would think that after 19 years of seeing the POW/MIA Recognition Day  watchfire it would lose some of its impact.  But the truth is that the ceremony is as emotionally powerful the 19th time as it was the first, a symbolic reminder of the thousands of American soldiers who are still lost and missing in the service of our country.  It isn't any one thing -- the faces of the young ROTC members who know they could soon be among the lost as they walk single file to put a log on the fire, the boom of the Civil War Canon, the flags, and the tributes -- and the enormous fire itself.  And the hundreds of people who come to pay their respect and be a part of remembering those who are lost.

"This symbolic gesture -- people are doing it across the country for National POW/MIA Day," says Harvey Baker, who had the idea for the watchfire 19 years ago and has been one of the main organizers ever since.  "This little effort by Vietnam veterans over the years, I think, has made a difference.  People look at the POW/MIA issue where before they didn't.  Russia recently agreed to help locate 88,000 World War Two veterans who were missing in action and were known to be in the Soviet Union's control."

Baker is originally from Lansing.  He graduated from Lansing High School in 1965, then joined the Marine Corps.  He spent two tours in Vietnam from 1966 to1968 as a scout dog handler with a German shepherd named Rommel.  "He was a great dog," Baker says. This year's watchfire was dedicated to Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot who was shot down in the Persian Gulf.  Speicher was originally from Skaneateles, and then Jacksonville, FLorida.  He was the first casualty of the 1991 Gulf War when he was shot down on the first night of the war.  Nobody knew whether he was killed or a prisoner until his remains were found and laid to rest on August 14th of this year. Veterans showed up at Myers Park around 6:30am and truckloads of wood trickled in all day.  Slab wood came from Volbrecht Lumber, and local businesses contributed pallets.  Cargill donates a front end loader and an operator each year to help pile up the wood, which ends up nearly two storeys high.  People also brought flags throughout the day to be burned in the fire, an appropriate, respectful way to dispose of them after they are beyond usability. The day part of the event is the part most people don't see, but the veterans appreciate it.  This year Shirley Martinez and her husband Daniel Waters, members of Auburn Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 704, decided to do something for the men setting up the fire.  They provided hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, water, juice, and soda so they could stay in the park and concentrate on preparing the event. "We've been coming for the last five years," Martinez  said.  "Now that the building here at the park is closed we thought it would be a nice gesture to serve the men." Philip Smith joined the local chapter a year ago, and made a special effort to get the word out for this year's watchfire.  With a background in public affairs, marketing and sales for a non profit organization in the DC area, he peppered Central New york with a PSA, posters, and word of mouth. "It's surprising.  I get around the country a lot and there are a lot of Vietnam veterans who are just resigned to life," he says.  "They need to be around a support group.  I'm going to make more of an effort now and in the future to get these guys into the group where they can talk about their past." The Endicott-based Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War brought a mountain Howitzer that is over 100 years old to signal the lighting of the fire.  A short dedication service started the event, but the lighting of the fire was the main attraction.  As flamed reached across the park in higher than usual winds, veterans, family members, and ROTC cadets lined up to throw wood onto the fire. The local chapter's next event has been a long time coming.  Their DeWitt Park Restoration/Rededication Committee has raised funds and restored the war memorials in Dewitt Park in downtown Ithaca.  The restored memorials will be rededicated on October 3rd from 9am to 2pm, with a ceremony at 11am.  Baker says the park is being desecrated almost every week by vandals, so the veterans clean it weekly.  Recently they repaved the walkways  with new brick, painted benches and light poles, and mulched the trees. "There is zero respect for the memorials there," he laments.  "We also clean it every week.  The City doesn't do it and the County doesn't do it, the Town doesn't do it... we do it.  You wouldn't believe what gets picked up -- it's very common to find drug paraphernalia behind one of the memorials.  They have the farmer's market there, but they don't have Port-A-Potties for those people.  So guess what they do -- they go behind the monument.  It's a shame.  The city should patrol it and do something about it." And for the watchfire, Baker says he does it every year to keep the issue of those missing in action alive.  He says that it didn't really become a priority for the nation until Vietnam War veterans pressed the issue. 19 years ago he says he approached the Town of Lansing about holding the event at Myers Park.  He is thankful to the Town, Park Superintendent Steve Colt, Volbrecht Lumber, Cargill=, and all the people who help make the event meaningful year after year. "We're getting older now and it's getting a little harder for us," he says.  "This is a good event.  It's not a big-time event, but it's certainly a big thing for us.  It's one of the nice things that we do that gets a lot of guys to participate and feel good about doing it.  This is still our issue."

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