COUNTYWIDE : Vigil Held for Those Missing in Vietnam
About 100 people attended a candlelight vigil Friday evening at the County Government Center in recognition of national POW/MIA Day.
The vigil in Ventura, which was organized by the Vietnam Veterans of Ventura County, is part of an annual event to commemorate members of the armed services who did not return from Vietnam and have not been accounted for.
Family members and friends lighted candles, which were placed in small white bags filled with sand. A bamboo cage that was supposed to represent the plight of prisoners of war was put in the center of the lighted candles.
Relatives and friends cried during the hourlong ceremony as names of California servicemen who are missing in action were read.
According to organizer Gary Parker, 228 veterans from California are still considered missing in action or prisoners of war. Of those, five are from Ventura County, he said.
“Coming here makes me feel a lot better,” said Charlie Ray, 67, of Santa Maria, whose son was taken prisoner in 1968. “I know that I’m not the only one worried about Jimmy, that all these other people here care too.”
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