MEADVILLE — Melody Bush is overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and respect by veterans for the great-uncle she never knew.

“It’s heart-warming, they’re doing all of this for him,” said Bush.

This weekend’s annual Prisoners of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) vigil in Meadville will honor Army Sgt. Chester L. Williams of Conneaut Lake who was missing during the Korean War. Williams’ remains are due to be interred in Meadville at the end of the month.

The vigil begins Friday at 6 p.m. at the Crawford County Veterans Memorial at the Crawford County Courthouse, 903 Diamond Park, Meadville. A candle-lighting ceremony and reading of names of those Pennsylvanians missing in action from the Vietnam War will be held at 8 p.m. It also recognizes those who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and the Global War on Terror.

On Saturday, the annual memorial Ride to Freedom is from the Conneaut Lake area to the Veterans Memorial in Meadville, starting at 3 p.m. Upward of 1,000 motorcycles are expected for the ride, weather permitting.

Saturday’s services at the Veterans Memorial will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. and honor Williams, according to Phil Davis, president of the Veterans Welcome Home Association. The service will include a ceremonial wreath laying, he said.

Williams’ remains are due to have interment in Meadville on Sept. 30, according to the U.S. Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office in Arlington, Va. A full military funeral is scheduled that day at 2 p.m. in Meadville’s Greendale Cemetery.

Williams’ remains are due to return to Meadville the afternoon of Sept. 28, according to Todd Waid of Robert W. Waid Funeral Home Inc. which is handling local arrangements. Escorts are planned along Interstate 79 and into Meadville.

Bush said her father, Clifford Williams who is Chester Williams’ nephew, is amazed at what is to take place.

“After we met with the Vietnam vets and left them, my dad was crying. I asked him why and he said, ‘I can’t get over what everyone is doing,’ ” Bush said. “We so glad he’s coming home.”



Missing in action

Sgt. Chester Williams was 32 when reported missing in action in Korea Dec. 6, 1950, and later died of exposure in a North Korean prison camp Dec. 31, 1950, according Meadville Tribune news clippings provided by the Conneaut Lake Historical Society.

Full details on Williams still are to be released by the U.S. Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

A Conneaut Lake High School graduate, Williams was a World War II veteran with 42 months service in Germany. He had been employed at Conneaut Lake Park before re-enlisting.

“He was out of the service but re-enlisted after his best friend was killed in the war,” Clifford (Tom) Williams remembers of his uncle’s motivation for rejoining the Army.

As a young boy, Williams remembers his uncle taking him fishing and on outings to Conneaut Lake Park.

“He also took all of us (neighborhood kids) to Conneaut Lake Park and watched us on the rides so we were safe and would get us something to eat before we came home,” the younger Williams remembers. “And, no one was going to mess with him, he was 6 (feet) 6 (inches).”

The annual event for POWs and MIAs is to remember the sacrifices made in all wars, according to Davis.

“It’s important to us and the families to get the fullest accounting possible,” said Davis, who is a Vietnam War veteran.

“We need to give the Williams family closure and keep the issue (of POW/MIAs) alive,” Davis continued. “We need to educate people as much as possible there are those still not accounted for.”

Melody Bush agrees.

“We’re doing this for our children and grandchildren to tell them about him,” she said of her great-uncle Chester. “It’s so they can tell their children and grandchildren.”



You can go

The annual 24-hour POW/MIA Vigil hosted by Meadville-based Veterans of Vietnam War Post 52 is Friday and Saturday at the Crawford County Veterans Memorial at the Crawford County Courthouse, 903 Diamond Park, Meadville.

It features a solemn candlelight ceremony Friday at 8 p.m. with the reading of all names of Pennsylvania MIAs from the Vietnam War; and Saturday features the annual Ride for Freedom from Conneaut Lake to Meadville.

Saturday’s ride stages at the Fairway 12 Motel, 11373 Route 618, Conneaut Lake, with registration starting at noon.

The ride begins promptly at 3 with a police escort and travels from the motel, south on Route 618 then east onto Route 322 into Meadville, ending at Diamond Park.

Saturday’s ceremony following the ride will honor Army Sgt. Chester Williams, who was listed as missing in action in the Korean War. The ceremony will be held at the Crawford County Veterans Memorial at the Crawford County Courthouse, 903 Diamond Park, Meadville, after the ride.

The 24-hour vigil concludes at 6 p.m. Saturday at the courthouse.



Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.