Moving MIA Memorial

• Photo Courtesy of Chisholm Country magazine Field representative for U.S. Senator John Carter, Michael McCloskey presented Robin Hill and his wife Kim and their dog Sofia with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of Sgt. John Fletcher Coston, one of three Bosque county soldiers missing in action honored at the Missing in Action Memorial/Project Recover fundraiser Sunday, May 5, at the Clifton ISD Performance Arts Center.
• Photo Courtesy of Chisholm Country magazine Jacob Nickel played Taps at the Missing in Action Memorial/Project Recover fundraiser May 5 at the CISD Performance Arts Center.
• Photo Courtesy of Chisholm Country magazine Special guests to the Missing in Action Memorial/Project Recover fundraiser May 5 at the CISD Performance Arts Center Sherry Shulze, David Conrad, Steve Conrad and his wife, field representative for U.S. Senator John Carter Michael McCloskey and District 22 Texas Senator Brian Birdwell stand for the national anthem.
• Photo Courtesy of Chisholm Country magazine District 22 Texas Senator Brian Birdwell spoke at the Missing in Action Memorial/ Project Recover fundraiser May 5 at the CISD Performance Arts Center.

Project Recover fundraiser highlights three Bosque soldiers missing-in-action

For family members with a soldier missing in action, a lifelong of void and feeling loss started with a Western Union telegram from an army adjutant, with the sentence “The Secretary of War desires me to express his deep regret that your son …has been reported missing in action. If any further details or other information are received, you will be promptly notified.”

But sometimes, the families never received any further communications about their loved ones, having to assume them dead, and without having definitive closure, still hoping for their return, even after decades. Families have remembered their fallen soldiers, but not daring to have an official memorial.

Together with the Clifton High School Freshman Honors English class, teacher Gaye Lynn Seawright organized a memorial at the Clifton Independent School District Performance Arts Center on Sunday, May 5, for three Bosque County soldiers missing in action at the tail end of World War II. The three veterans are S. Sargent John Fletcher Coston (Army Air Force), Seaman 1st Class Robert H. Walsleben (Navy Reserves), and S. Sargent RolandLudvigZander(Army Air Corps). The “Honor our Heroes” ceremony was free of charge and open to the public.

The student project started after teacher Gaye Lynn Seawright’s freshman English Honors Class saw the documentary “Expedition Unknown” by Josh Gates, featuring the works of Project Recover in the South Pacific. The documentary followed the non-profit organization on a series of dives hoping to recover downed United States WWII aircraft in the deep. This led to identification of the service men on the plane’s last mission and recovery of their remains to bring them home to their families.

The class wanted to provide a memorial service of these three, and help Project Recover with a fundraiser. Besides the research into the MIA soldiers, the event organization and preparation, each student, dressed in their Sunday best, presented one or more parts of the extensive program.

The students worked on speeches, articles, flyers and posters, certificates and every otherfacetofeventproduction for this very special memorial ceremony like inviting dignitaries, elected officials, active military, members of the Bosque River Valley Daughters of the American Revolution, the Bosque County Genealogical and Historical Society, members from Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, and the families of the MIA soldiers.

First responders like local law enforcement, Emergency Medical Technicians, volunteer firemen were all invited to the event, but due to the extensive flooding after heavy rainfall they had worked through the night with emergency and disaster management. Initially the event was to start at 2 p.m. but was postponed until 6 p.m. to allow flood waters to recede somewhat and open up some roads leading into Clifton.

Project Recover’s Director of Community and Donor Relations Michelle Abbey flew in from her home base Oregon. She brought Project Recover T-shirts with her for all the students involved in the project. She admitted to never having been part of such a well-researched and excellently executed event before.

Alongside tables with information on the three soldiers being honored that day, there was a “Missing Man” table for all soldiers missing in action. The table with a white tablecloth, a book of faith, an inverted glass, a lit candle, and a single red rose in a vase with a yellow ribbon symbolizing the void felt by their absence and the everlasting hope of their return.

There was a three volley salute from the Clifton VFW and American Legion posts as a farewell for the fallen soldiers heard from outside the PAC. Another impactful moment in the ceremony was the reading of a mother’s prayer; a prayer so pure, forgiving, altruistic and full of hope. The slide on the big screen showed a handwritten prayer from an unknown author, but handwritten by Roland Zander’s mother– provided by his sister Glenda Bowen.

Besides memorials for the three MIA soldiers, the full length documentary “To What Remains” about the 10year search to find tail gunner and SSgt Jimmy Doyle’s Arnett B-24 that was downed near the Palau Islands, was shown to educate the public on the work of Project Recover and its impact on families of veterans missing in action. A patriotic quilt made by Dianne Merghardt was raffled off as part of the event’s fundraiser and silent auction items were on display. Not on the official program was honoring World War II veteran Sgt. 1st Class (ret.) David Conrad from Clifton for his service in as a radar operator in an anti-aircraft unit in allied occupied Germany at the close of the war.

“There are so many layers of emotions connected to having a soldier missing in action,” Seawright said. “Families feel great loss, alongside pride and patriotism for the sacrifice to their country. But the void remains in the families. Just knowing where their soldiers lie gives them peace. Bringing their remains home, brings closure.”

The students also did genealogy research on the three soldiers, getting to know them on a deeper level – piecing together who they were, what they did. This literally brought the soldiers to life for them. As they got deeper into the subject, the students became more and more engaged, especially when it turned out that some of them knew families of the MIA soldiers. Walsleben was born and raised in Valley Mills and graduated from VMHS. Zander was a CHS graduate and related to present freshman Zac Zander. Coston was born in Valley Mills and attended Cranfills Gap HS.

“I am so proud of these kids, and the work they are putting into this, above their normal class work,” Seawright said.

Cousin Robin Hill and his wife Kim and their dog Sofia were in attendance to receive the certificates of honor for Sgt. Coston. Representing the Walsleben family were Walsleben’s nephew and niece Joe Kirby Smith and his sister Cindy Bowen. Zander was represented by his sister Glenda Bowen and his nephew James Zander.

The families received a flag which had flown over the nation’s capitol inWashington D.C. and a certificate From U.S. Congressman John Carter’s field representative Michael McCloskey. Much to her surprise, Seawright also received a flag and a certificate of recognition from Carter. The families also received certificates from the students, the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders, and from the Robert E. Binford Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8553 in Clifton.

District 22 Texas Senator Brian Birdwell thanked all the parties involved in the event to “render honor to whom honor is due,” especially for the work the students put into the event. Birdwell’s own family had two grandfathers that served in WWI, a father and an uncle that served in WWII, an uncle that served in Korea, and an uncle that served in between WWII and Korea.

“The challenge these families face in not knowing the status of their loved one, where their loved one will be, but in the faith and hope they will see their loved one on the Great Resurrection Day when the Lord calls us into eternity,” Birdwell said.

Texas Governor Gregg Abbot had sent a special video message for the event.

For over 30 years, Project Recover has been the nation’s leading citizen-led, nonprofit organization to search, locate, document, recover, and repatriate the over 81,500 American service members missing in action and to bring recognition and closure to the estimated 5,000,000 MIA Gold Star family members. Over 4,100 Texas solders are still MIA.

Recovery missions of missing service members can cost from $500,000 to $1 million dollars. That cost pales in comparison to their ultimate sacrifice of their lives and the cost of loss to their families. To be able to fulfill their mission, to keeping America’s promise to bring home all of its soldiers that fell in battle, Project Recover regularly holds fundraisers. And that promise does not have an expiration date.

Project Recover is a collaborative effort to enlist 21st century science and technology in a quest to find and repatriate Americans missing in action since World War II, in order to provide recognition and closure for families and the Nation.

Project Recover has completed over 75 missions in 21 countries, discovered and documented more than 75 aircraft associated with MIAs, developed a growing database of more than 700 cases associated with more than 3,000 MIAs, accounted for over 80 missing-in-action service members, and have helped to bring home 17 American heroes. Often, just receiving more information on the circumstances of their deaths already helps families fill some of the void they feel. “So many teachers and their students have helped,” Seawright said. “From making decorations, floral designs, doing video and sound, band students playing Taps. I want to thank everybody, the CISD staff and administration for their support as this project grew.”

With this special ceremony and fundraiser, Seawright and her students are making sure the Bosque County MIA soldiers who gave the most for their country are honored in a way they deserve, and keep their memories alive.