Debbi Winogracki
Recreation Director
Berkeley Township Chair of Honor comes to Berkeley Township
Remembrance for POW and MIA’s
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP- While pointing to a designated empty chair in Berkeley Township’s Town Hall, Charles Webster, Vice President, Rolling Thunder Chapter 2-New Jersey, spoke to Mayor Carmen Amato, Council members, Veterans and Rolling Thunder members to discuss the “Chair of Honor” program.
“There is a special segment of those Veterans that will be honored here permanently. The ‘Chair of Honor’ program is dedicated to remembering all Prisoners of War and those Missing In Action. More than 93,000 service members never made it home from the wars since WWI,” Webster proclaimed.
“Never forget those who never came back. This empty chair represents 93,000 Americans who are unaccounted for,” Webster added. “This empty seat is dedicated to Berkeley Township as a reminder of the POW or MIA whose remains have not been returned.”
Mayor Carmen Amato said, “This is a wonderful tribute to all of our Veterans and the 93,000 who never made it home.” Amato took time to point out Veterans in the room, such as 92 year old Wallace Hoffman, a 15-month POW from the Army’s 36th Infantry Division, and Air Force mechanic Staff Sgt. Alan Morris who recently came back from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Amato also acknowledged the accomplishments of Councilman Jim Byrnes, a medic who served in the 82nd Airborne Division and received both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Byrnes thanked the Rolling Thunder members for bringing the “Chair of Honor” to Berkeley Township and keeping the memory of the POW-MIA’s going.
This “Chair of Honor” sits in the lobby of Berkeley Township’s Town Hall. The “Chair of Honor” program is dedicated to remembering all Prisoners of War and those Missing In Action. More than 93,000 service members never made it home from the wars since WWI. (Photo credit: Debbi Winogracki)