MONTICELLO — A small table was set for one inside the lobby of the Sullivan County Government Center in Monticello last Friday. 

The solemn ceremony hosted each year by the Sullivan County Veterans Service Agency commemorates POW/MIA Recognition Day. 

The Fallen Comrade Table is set with specific items to remember American service members who were or are currently prisoners of war, as well as all of those missing in action. 

“There are still people out there who are unaccounted for [and] families who are still hurting …” said Veterans Service Agency Director John Crotty. “We recognize the sacrifice of our missing, the pain of their families and of all our nation’s efforts to bring closure to those at home.”

Veterans Service Officer Stephen Walsh explained the significance of each item on the table. It is small and set for one, for example, to symbolize the frailty of one prisoner alone against his oppressors. The white tablecloth symbolizes the purity of their intentions to respond to their country’s call to arms. The single red rose in a vase symbolizes the families and loved ones who keep the faith awaiting their return. 

Among the other items, a lit candle symbolizes the upward reach of their unconquerable spirit.

“All of you who served with them and called them comrades, who depended upon their might and aid, and relied upon them, for surely, they have not forsaken you … Remember,” recited Walsh. “Until the day they come home … Remember.”