SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — American Ex-Prisoners of War, San Diego Chapter 1, honored America's ex- prisoners of war and commemorated the 10th anniversary of its POW statue titled "The Liberation Moment" at a ceremony Thursday.
The ceremony, adjacent to the entrance of Miramar National Cemetery, featured veterans, their families and guests.
The statue depicts the "exhilaration of an emaciated prisoner of war emerging from captivity," a statement from AXPOW reads.
An eagle soars from the broken fence and barbed wire surrounding the prisoner. Seals of the nation's five branches of the armed services are embedded in the statue's base, which also serves as a time capsule containing narratives provided by San Diego area former prisoners of war.
The time capsule will be opened in 2045, one hundred years after the end of World War II.
Richard Becker, a Poway artist, sculpted the statue and is scheduled to speak during the ceremony about creating it. Al Padilla, honorary AXPOW member, is to serve as master of ceremonies.
"The statue represents a POW's dream of being liberated," said Jim Kell, commander of AXPOW. "Our statue captures the moment when the liberated POW looks skyward toward the heavens and freedom."
Tom Crosby, vice commander of AXPOW, said, "I want to tell young people to never forget our wars and the high price we pay for our freedom."
Former POWs and AXPOW members Ralph Kling and Frank Burger -- both now deceased -- were instrumental in the original vision of the statue, obtaining funding and seeing the project through to its placement at Miramar National Cemetery in 2011.
"Visitors to the cemetery who see this monument will realize the sacrifice that American soldiers made to keep freedom alive around the world," Kling said at the dedication of the statue 10 years ago. "They'll remember that veterans buried here at Miramar gave their all, and we're fortunate to be able to recognize them."
Burger, a WWII veteran and ex-prisoner of war liberated on May 1, 1945, said at the time he was dedicated to the statue because of the joy he felt when he was freed.
Most members of AXPOW were prisoners during World War II, but also Vietnam, from the USS Pueblo captured by North Korea in 1968, and even an American child civilian POW held in a prison camp in the Philippines from 1942- 1945.
