For the thousands of service members who remain unaccounted for, and for their brethren who were held in captivity by enemy combatants, the third Friday of September is reserved for their recognition.

The local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter held its annual POW/ MIA observance Friday at Bryant Commons, paying tribute to the more than 80,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who remain missing in action and those who were captured by enemy forces.

“We owe these people a debt of gratitude that we could never repay,” Dennis Fitzgerald of VVA Chapter 789 said.

The event also serves as an acknowledgement to the families left behind by those held prisoner or listed as missing in action, and their sacrifices.

“If we don’t take time to remember, we lose our history. We lose what this country stands for,” Fitzgerald said. “Without our history, we’re lost.”

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, nearly 7,800 service members listed as missing since the organization’s establishment in 1973 have been accounted for. Fitzgerald said there are no soldiers from Liberty County, particularly from the Vietnam War, he is aware of who are listed as still missing in action. The DPAA lists more than 1,300 service members from Georgia as missing, though some have been accounted for.

“Not knowing is the hardest part,” said Vietnam veteran Paul Spence.

But for those whose whereabouts and fates remain unknown, a table for one with an empty plate, an inverted wine glass, a red rose, a Bible, and a small plate with salt and a lemon slice are prepared each year.

“It shows we still care, and we’re not going to let them be forgotten,” Fitzgerald said. Their motto, he added, is “remember, remember, remember.”