Ramstein honors and recognizes POW/MIA Remembrance Week
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – U.S. service members, families, and community members honored U.S. service members still missing in action during the annual POW/MIA Remembrance Week, held here, Sept. 14-18. The week opened with a 24-hour remembrance run/walk and a series of educational exhibits intended to strengthen the understanding around one of the Department of War’s most honored missions--returning home prisoners of war and missing service members.
U.S. Air Force Col. Nathan Bump, 86th Airlift Wing deputy commander, provided opening remarks at the 24-hour run/walk where he honed in on the impact event organizers had in carrying on the legacy in the local Kaiserslautern Military Community.
“More than 80,000 service members remain missing in action since World War II,” Bump said. “It’s our responsibility to carry on the memory of the devotion and sacrifice of anyone ever listed on the rollcall as a prisoner of war or missing in action.”
Bump’s remarks set the tone for the week’s events, which organizers designed with keeping the memory of the missing alive.
One Airman took this vision many steps further.
U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Eros Mavros, 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron vehicle management journeyman, ran and walked the full 24-hours to honor those still unaccounted for.
“I knew what I was doing was hard, but I was in no immediate danger,” Mavros said. “It was about putting myself in someone else’s shoes, even if only for a moment, and thanking them by not forgetting them.”
In addition to the run/walk event, attendees had the chance to learn more about the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency mission and history throughout the week. All of these efforts were supported through the Air Force Sergeants Association, DPAA and various volunteer organizations.
The remembrance week ended on Sept. 18 with the POW/MIA Recognition Day Retreat Ceremony at the Red River Rats Association Memorial, where the 86th Airlift Wing leadership and U.S. Air Force Col. Derek Rankin, DPAA chief of staff, delivered closing remarks.
“You are not forgotten,” Rankin said. “That flag does not symbolize defeat, nor does it signify resignation, it is a symbol of their timeless sacrifice.”
Annually, Team Ramstein POW/MIA ceremonies honor the sacrifices made by generations who came before, while also offering a venue to discuss enduring efforts to return anyone unaccounted for.
Their sacrifice endures as a call to future generations, a reminder that freedom carries a cost, and that those who paid it must never be forgotten. As POW/MIA Remembrance Week ends, the Kaiserslautern Military Community carries that legacy of commitment forward until every service member comes home.
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