Tiger battalion honors missing and captured

A single round table covered with a white table cloth and set as for a formal dinner sat in the corner of the Douglas High School commons on Friday as students poured from their classrooms for lunch.

No one sat at the table set for six, set up higher than the rest, but two members of the school's Army Jr. Reserve Officer Training Corps stood guard by the U.S. and Nevada flags that flanked the table.

The settings were explained to students by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Sims and Sgt. Michael Cross as 1st. Lt. Robert Park and 1st Lt. Taylor Woodman stood guard.

The Missing Man table was set in honor of 2008 POW/MIA Recognition Day, which is held by Presidential Proclamation on the third Friday every September.

Sims explained the significance of the table and its settings.

"The table is round - to show our everlasting concern for our missing men. The tablecloth is white - symbolizing the purity of their motives. The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing and their loved ones and friends of these Americans who keep the faith. The vase is tied with a red ribbon, a symbol of our continued determination to account for the missing. A slice of lemon on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land. A shaker of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers. The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God. The glass is inverted " to symbolize their inability to share this day's events. The chairs are empty - they are missing."

Advisor Don Johnson said typically a hat representing each of the armed services and one for missing civilians are placed on the dinner plate, but the program hasn't obtained all the hats yet.

"This is an opportunity to recognize their service with this table," Johnson said. "This ceremony is taking place all over the country."

The Douglas High School Jr. ROTC program is in its second year. Johnson said about 80 students are participating this year.