A symbolic table at the Brunswick American Legion Post 20 set to represent veterans who never returned home. C. Thacher Carter / The Times Record

It is estimated that 478 Maine veterans remain unaccounted for since World War II. Nationally, the number is closer to 82,000.

For Debora Couture, the State Commander for the American Legion Department of Maine, her uncle, WWII veteran Lawrence Pierce of Livermore Falls, is one of them. Terrence Hanley, a family friend and Vietnam veteran, is another.

According to Couture, Pierce’s plane went down over the inaccessible mountains of Greenland on his way to Europe in 1943, and was never recovered. Today, his name is engraved on a monument in Livermore Falls, which, Couture said after all the years, brings closure to her knowing that he will not return.

Hanley, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, served as a lieutenant with Heavy Photographic Squadron 61. He was on a night reconnaissance mission off of North Vietnam on New Years Day of 1968 when his aircraft disappeared from the radar. Despite a three day search, Hanley and the two others aboard were also never recovered.

“Parents will pass away, brothers and sisters and everything and never know exactly what happened to their family members,” Couture said. “It’s just so important to remember that.”

On Friday, Sept. 17 — National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day — the Brunswick American Legion Post 20 will hold a vigil on the town mall to do just that: remember.

“If we just forget about it, nothing will ever happen,” said Joe Donahue, a Vietnam veteran and one of the vigil organizers.

The Brunswick tribute will specifically honor the 11 Mainers — out of the roughly 1,600 nationwide — who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. In addition, Cpl. Gerald L. Smith will also be remembered, a Brunswick resident and one of the 45 Mainers still unaccounted for from the Korean War.

The vigil has been held in Brunswick for around 10 years, Donohue said, but was more recently moved to the mall in an effort bring more public attendance. Donohue said he hopes the vigil will motivate the public in asking government officials to do more work to find those missing.

“If you don’t see it, you forget it about it,” Donohue said. “The idea is to make sure we keep on our congressional representatives to continue stressing the fact that we want their remains returned or some information in regards to their remains.”

A list of Maine POW/MIA from the Vietnam War at the Brunswick American Legion Post 20. C. Thacher Carter / The Times Record

The vigil will consist of a prayer and a symbolic round table with five unattended place settings, representing the five branches of the military. An active-duty member from each branch will be present.

“For some people the MIA/POW has little to no meaning or significance but for veterans, for families of veterans, especially those who have lost veterans or have no accountability it has very deep and personal meaning,” Town Councilor David Watson said. “We can’t forget.”

Watson, who served in the United States Air Force from 1966-70, is also the Commander of Brunswick’s American Legion Post. For many veteran families, Watson said, having remains or knowing what happened brings closure.

“It’s the politicians that in reality make war, but they don’t fight the war. They let the young people do that,” Watson said. “It’s important that we get those people back, it’s significant. We want those people back, either alive or those remains.”

In 2017, The Times Record reported that the list of missing Maine Vietnam veterans used to be at 12, until the remains of Lieutenant junior grade Neil Taylor of Rangeley were found and returned after 50 years.

According to a 2015 report from the Portland Press Herald, a forensic military unit spent years searching a rice paddy, and were eventually able to confirm through DNA that they found his remains.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is the U.S. entity charged with accounting for missing personnel from wars dating back to WWII.

The organization is based in Hawaii and D.C. and reports that out of the roughly 81,600 missing veterans, 75% of the losses are located in the Indo-Pacific and over 41,000 of the missing are presumed to be lost at sea.

The unaccounted-for Vietnam veterans to be honored at Friday include Malcolm Avore, Peter Vlahakos, Joseph Musetti Jr., Terrence Hanley, John Brooks, John Huntley, Carl Churchill, William Sanders, Richard Dority and two others whose families asked the names to be withheld.

The vigil will go from 11 a.m. to noon.