Family creates ‘Missing Man’ display for Memorial Day

Meg Hibbert

Contributing writer

If the family of Scott and Tina Flanagan has anything to do with it, no one who passes by their South Salem home will ever forget the real meaning of Memorial Day.

For the past three years on that day, the Flanagans have put up a large eye-catching display of American and service flags in their front yard in the 500 block of Front Avenue, with a POW Missing Man Table, a flag-draped coffin and a tribute to someone who died in the service.

This year they chose Salem High School graduate and Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class A diver Jimmy Buriak, who died in a helicopter rescue operation off the California coast in August 2021. Photos of Buriak and an explanation of the Loosefoot 616 helicopter accident were set up.

Those were placed next to a bowl of enamel Poppy pins the family offered to passersby to remind of them of the end of World War I, toy soldiers and sailors for children to take, and small American flags.

“We do this because a lot of people have forgotten what Memorial Day is really about,” said Army veteran Scott, who served in 19 D reconnaissance and was at Fort Campbell before they moved to Salem in 2020. 

“We have people who stop by and salute, to lay flowers, or ask questions,” he added.

Everything on the Missing Man Table is symbolic. The chair, which remains empty, is draped with a POW-MIA flag. The table is round, to show everlasting concern for missing men and women. It is set with a white cloth, a rose, a candle, a Bible, a saucer of salt to symbolize tears, a lemon for the bitterness of death and an upside-down glass. 

“That is because we can’t share a glass with the people who are gone,” Scott added.

Military dining facilities set up such tables in military dining facilities in honor of fallen, missing or imprisoned military service members.

The family also did smaller Memorial Day displays while they were at Fort Campbell.

They added the coffin recently after purchasing a cremation casket from John M. Oakey & Sons in Salem. It is draped with a flag that came from services of daughter Destiny’s father-in-law, James Walton IV.

Both of the couple’s sons served in the Army, too. They are Austin Walton and Lucas McLauchlan, who is serving at Fort Bliss.

There are numerous other symbolic touches in the family’s yard. They fly an American flag that is mounted with a brick border in a pentagon shape.

“That is to remind people of the people who died in the 9-1-1 attack on The Pentagon,” Scott pointed out.

The clutch of plastic toy soldiers and sailors for children to take is backed up by a framed poem that reads: “Take a toy soldier today as you leave to remember the fallen and those who still grieve. Their sacrifice made it possible to be the home of the brave and the land of the free. Remember their families as you sit down to pray and reflect on the reason for Memorial Day.”