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POW

rocktonrockton Member Posts: 551 ✭✭✭
edited March 2004 in General Discussion
This has been posted before and I am wondering why nobody can answer this question.

Thanks

Rockton

See below

I have just joined the American Legion in our little town in Pa. Wifey and I went to dinner the other night and I noticed something I will never forget.

In a corner of the dining room there was a small table single chair all set up for dinner. The chair had a POW symbol on the back and a certificate was on the table. It was a reminder not to forget the POWs.

My question is what is the meaning of the lemon slice on the dinner plate?

Thanks
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    crims40crims40 Member Posts: 1,107 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here is a C&P that will explain it.....
    POW/MIA Ceremony

    Props: 1 small round table, 1 chair leaning against the table, white table cloth, table set for 1, salt shaker, 1 lemon slice, black vase with yellow ribbon, black napkin, red rose, water glass inverted on table, recording of Taps and Billy Ray Cyrus - Some Gave All.

    Script:
    Those who have served and those currently serving the uniformed services of the United States are ever mindful that the sweetness of enduring peace has always been tainted by the bitterness of personal sacrifice. We are compelled to never forget that while we enjoy our daily pleasures, there are others who have endured and may still be enduring the agonies of pain, deprivation and internment.
    Before we begin our activities this evening, we will pause to recognize our POW's and MIA's.
    We call your attention to this small table, which occupies a place of dignity and honor near the head table. It is set for one, symbolizing the fact that members of our armed forces are missing from our ranks. They are referred to as POW's and MIA's.
    We call them comrades.
    They are unable to be with their loved ones and families tonight, so we join together to pay our humble tribute to them, and bear witness to their continued absence.
    This table, set for one, is small, symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner, alone against his or her suppressors.
    The tablecloth is white, symbolic of the purity of their intentions to respond to their country's call to arms.
    The single red rose in the vase, signifies the blood they many have shed in sacrifice to ensure the freedom of our beloved United States of America. This rose also reminds us of the family and friends of our missing comrades who keep the faith, while awaiting their return.
    The yellow ribbon on the vase represents the yellow ribbons worn on the lapels of the thousands who demand with unyielding determination a proper accounting of our comrades who are not among us tonight.
    A slice of lemon on the plate reminds us of their bitter fate.
    The salt sprinkled on the plate reminds us of the countless fallen tears of families as they wait.
    The glass is inverted - they cannot toast with us this night.
    The chair is empty - they are not here.
    The candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives in our hearts to illuminate their way home, away from their captors, to the open arms of a grateful nation.
    Let us pray to the supreme commander that all of our comrades will soon be back within our ranks.
    Let us remember and never forget their sacrifices.
    May god forever watch over them and protect them and their families.
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    greeker375greeker375 Member Posts: 3,644
    edited November -1
    Amen.

    "the difference between the almost right word and the right word is like the difference between a lightning bug and a lightning bolt" - Mark Twain.
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    BufflerBuffler Member Posts: 821 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thank you for posting this.
    BE SAFE!! Buffler
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    Night StalkerNight Stalker Member Posts: 11,967
    edited November -1
    Thanks for posting this article. Although many have forgotten, thereare currently three American contractors being held in the jungles of Colombia. The were taken hostage Feb 14, 2002!

    NSDQ!

    "Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying who shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I, send me." -Isaiah 6:8
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    rocktonrockton Member Posts: 551 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thank you

    Rockton
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    dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000 ✭
    edited November -1
    Much bitterness in the hearts of some of us who watched a nation forget those braves souls until the first Gulf War brought respect back to the American soldier.

    I saw a Marine who was talking on the POW/MIA's in Dallas back in 1984. When he brought up the missing men and torchered POW's, one of the audience members said, "The damned baby killers got what they deserved." I had to leave before I did something to get me thrown in jail.

    I will never forget.

    How you doin'!wolf_evil_smile_md_wht.gif
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