PORT ANGELES — An overflow crowd packed the Clallam County Veterans Center on Monday to pay their respects to U.S. service members who never came home.
Wreaths were laid by representatives from five veterans organizations, but extra tears were shed as a wreath was dedicated by Marsha Welch of Port Angeles to all of those still listed as missing in action.
“It’s so important when I see that more people are coming,” Welch said. “It’s important for young people, for all Americans.”
Welch’s husband, Lt. Col. Robert J. Welch, was reported missing in action Jan. 16, 1967.
He was an F-4 pilot in the Air Force, 11th Tactical Reconnnaisance Squadron.
He took off from Udorn Air Base in Thailand for a photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam near Hanoi.
Welch and his navigator, 1st Lt. Michael S. Kerr, were shot down northwest of Hanoi. Kerr ejected and survived. He said later that he didn’t see Welch eject and didn’t know the pilot’s fate.
Welch said when her husband was listed as missing, some people said terrible things about those who served in Vietnam.
On Monday, Marsha and others who lost loved ones got the respect that was missing back then, as a line formed of those who wanted to pay their respects.
Marsha still wears her husband’s MIA bracelet.Well-worn, it is engraved with his name and the date he went missing.
A tree planted at the Veterans Center 45 years ago is a permanent tribute to those who never came home, Marsha said.
“When you see that tree out there, it’s for all POWs, MIAs, and the thousands and thousands who have given their lives,” she said.
Retired Col. Don Roberts, who served in the U.S. Army in World War II, the Korean War and in Vietnam, and who held every enlisted rank from private to sergeant major, and every commissioned rank from second lieutenant to colonel, spoke to the group, and shared what it is like to be on a long range patrol.
Roberts explained that long-range patrols take soldiers far from the covering fire of their artillery, and, until recently, out of radio range to call for assistance.
During the Korean War, Roberts set out in the morning with a platoon-size task group to look for a Chinese battalion that had “disappeared” overnight, he said.
“A long-range patrol is very mobile, and needs to know when to fight and when to run away,” he said.
During the patrol, Roberts said the task force climbed ridges, descended into valleys, fought a North Korean group, nearly ambushed a Canadian patrol and made their way back to camp.
And all before dark, he said.
Roberts was given the traditional Navy honor of being piped on and off of the ceremonial “deck” where Monday’s ceremony was held.
At the final ceremony, the Marine Corps League Mount Olympus Detachment 897 performed a 21-gun salute to fallen comrades, and Marine Corps League bagpiper Don Gregory played taps.
The event was hosted by the Korean War Veterans Association.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
