Veteran honors POWs and MIAs with special exhibit on Fourth of July weekend

The Fourth of July is linked with fireworks, barbecues, and blowout sales, but the bravery of the men and women who served in the military is sometimes overlooked. A Coachella Valley man is trying to change that for a select group of veterans who are often forgotten.

Edward G. Johnson, a combat wounded Vietnam veteran, partnered with the Westfield Shoppingtown in Palm Desert to honor prisoners of war and missing in action persons.

“People forget about why we have our freedom to do what we want,” said Johnson, who served in Vietnam in 1967-68. “Gentlemen go overseas to fight for our country to preserve freedom. It’s always nice to possibly give about five minutes remembrance of those who are still missing in action in all the wars.”

He designed a special POW/MIA Remembrance exhibit that is on display at the Westfield Shoppingtown. This is the second year the exhibit is on display, honoring over 88,000 veterans who were prisoners of war or missing in action.

The exhibit is a small table with an empty chair and other decorative pieces. Each piece in the exhibit is placed with purpose, like a lemon that symbolizes our reminder of the POWs and MIAs bitter fate, or the salt that is linked to the countless fallen tears from grieving families.

Passerbys were impressed, not only with the exhibit, but with the dozens of veterans on hand that fought in U.S. conflicts dating back to World War II. Veterans in attendance shared their time and told their stories.

“You have to know how you got there, what other people had to go through to get to where we are now,” explained Vincent Taguiva, a Westfield shopper.

“You know what, they’ll remember this for the rest of their lives,” Johnson said.

But Johnson hopes he reaches another crowd that he thinks should care a little more.

“Active service members will come by, kind of glance, and walk away. I think they need to sit and motorize what’s going on because they could have comrades themselves that lost their lives in service now and still missing.”

The display will be up throughout the holiday weekend and hopes to remind shoppers passing by about the veterans gone, but never forgotten.