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POW/MIA Day observed in Bloomfield
Friday was a time to pause and honor the sacrifices made by the nation's military prisoners of war and to remember those still list as missing in action.
Members of the Bloomfield Jr.-Sr. High School Naval Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps (NJROTC) led a respectful ceremony Friday morning on the east lawn of the school on National POW/MIA Day.
Faculty, administration and students watched while NJROTC Cadets Ivan Usrey and Jordan Helms placed a ceremonial wreath next to the flag pole while student bugler Taylor Helms played "Taps."
Unit Administrative officer Scotland McKinzie and Executive Officer Brandi Blakley stood at attention as the honor guard during the somber ceremony.
Cadet Marissa Deckard issued the invocation.
NJROTC Lt. Commander Frank Starr explained the history behind the observance, noting that Congress passed a resolution authorizing National POW/MIA Recognition Day to be observed July 18, 1979.
The observance is conducted the third Friday of September.
Lt. Starr said it's important that the community and student cadets remember the POWs and MIAs.
"Most of them endured torture and torment beyond anything we could ever imagine. They survived in the worst living conditions and usually were horribly malnourished and all too often they witnessed the death of their comrades," Starr told the gathering. "Many probably wondered if they would ever see their families again, but with the vast majority of those returned alive there was that hope of reuniting with their families. It's that same hope that requires, demands that we continue to seek a full accounting of all Americans missing in military service as well.
"POWs and their family members, as well as those of MIAs, request nothing more than a continued effort toward accountability. They seek no special recognition, but they are owed so much. We can never repay them for their sacrifices. All that we can do is appreciate them, respect them and remember them. To all the POWs and MIAs, past and present, we say you are not forgotten."
Starr said the ceremony was simply a means of showing respect to the POWs and MIAs and helps to foster the primary goal of the NJROTC program, which is to promote citizenship in the community.
Starr, a retired Naval officer who serves as the Senior Naval Science instructor, and his teaching partner U.S. Marine Sgt. Major Robin White, are both in their first year of leadership of the school's NJROTC program.
The program has long been a shining light at Bloomfield.
Enrollment in NJROTC is up significantly this year going from 37 cadets in the spring to 72 on the roster currently. A trio of students from neighboring White River Valley school district attend NJROTC classes at Bloomfield for a portion of each day.
The program was under the leadership of Navy Senior Chief Tom Tippery, Sr., who helped start the NJROTC program part-time in 1985. He helped it evolve into a full-time classroom offering in 1991.
Tippery retired at the end of last school year.
There are seven NJROTC units in the state and Bloomfield ranks as the smallest in terms of school enrollment.
The program includes classroom studies in Naval history, citizenship, astronomy, oceanography, meteorology, and seamanship.
Starr stressed that the program is not a recruiting tool for the military.
"Two more kids and we would be doubled up from what we had last year," Starr said after the ceremony. "It's about 21 percent of our student population (grades 9 through 12 of 377 students) here.
"There is a lot of support here for the program from the residents (in the community)."
The Bloomfield unit was judged a Unit of Achievement Award winner by the U.S. Navy last year -- finishing in the top half of all NJROTC units in the country based on academic standards, inspection scores and participation in community service projects.
In Starr's view, the co-ed NJROTC program is a wonderful opportunity for a student to learn life skills.
"There are so many advantages. One of them is what we teach them, the discipline. You don't graduate high school and throw that away. That is inside you. That is instilled in you," Starr said. "We also talk to them a lot about how to carry themselves ... you have to stand up and present yourself well in the world. We talk to them constantly about their language. I talk to them constantly about driving. My brother was killed by a drunk driver so I'm big on not drinking and I'm big on correct, safe driving.
"One of the things that people forget is, the Congressional mandate for this program is that it is a citizenship program. It is not a recruiting program or anything like that."