By Daniel Witter/Appeal-Democrat
Some memories don't fade after 50 years.
As Obie Wickersham of Yuba City watched an American flag flap in the wind Friday at Beale Air Force Base, his mind turned to a settlement of mud huts in the North Korean countryside 50 years ago. Chinese soldiers watched over his starvation, beatings and hardship during the Korean War. But he is a survivor.
In those two years as a prisoner of war, Wickersham said, he never let the enemy take his most important asset - his spirit. Although he went through what most people would consider a living nightmare, Wickersham doesn't enjoy being called a hero.
"I have always said I can't be a hero for being a POW," he said. Hero is a title given to those soldiers who never came back home, he said.
Wickersham's shared his war reflections during a ceremony in honor of POW/MIA Day, which honors American prisoners of war and those listed as missing in action.
The base held the special ceremony outside the 9th Reconnaissance Wing headquarters. Airmen in their dress blues divided into four groups, a tradition representing each of the wing's squadrons.
A squad of four T-38 jets roared overhead, with one peeling off into a steep climb in remembrance of service members who have not been found.
An honor squad raised the American and POW/MIA flags, then lowered and folded them to music.
Col. Larry Wells, Commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, oversaw the ceremony.
"I love to do this," Wells said. "If we take one day a year to think about them, for me it reaffirms service before self, which is one of our core (beliefs)."
More than a dozen veterans, some former POWs, stood off to the side or sat in chairs by a flagpole in quiet reflection.
As Wickersham watched a large group of airmen depart after the ceremony's, he said being a prisoner of war wasn't as important as how he conducted himself when captive.
"You have to have the will power to say 'I'm going to beat this and I'm going to go home.'"
Appeal-Democrat reporter Daniel Witter can be reached at 749-4712. You may e-mail him at dwitter@appeal-democrat.com.
© 2005: Appeal-Democrat