‘America’s White Table’ shows children importance of service members

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

MARBLE FALLS — Margot Theis Raven looked at the white linen-covered table. On top sat an overturned glass, a single rose, a white candle and a lemon slice on a plate with some salt. A few feet away, people in gowns and dress uniforms swirled around the dance floor during the Air Force Ball.

A single empty chair stood watch over the table. Nobody sat there, or would, during the ball.

Raven didn’t know what was so significant about the table. But she realized it meant something to all those wearing uniform then, before and in the future.

“You know what made the most noise of all during the ball?” she asked. “That table and the reverence around it.”

An Air Force general’s wife explained to Raven what the table represented and what it meant to all the men and women in uniform.

The table, called a White Table or a Remembrance Table, is used to represent prisoners of war and those missing in action. It is showing up across the Highland Lakes in school libraries, public libraries, churches and at least one bookstore. Members of the Alpha Chi chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International have set up White Tables at the locations and donated copies of Raven’s book, “America’s White Table,” to the libraries, 19 in all.

“I thought this was an awesome way for kids to become aware of who veterans are and what they’ve done,” said Lorine Kuhn, the Alpha Chi chapter program chairwoman. “I really don’t think kids really know who a veteran is, and the table and the book really show who they are.”

After seeing the White Table during the Air Force ball, Raven, a Charleston, S.C., children’s author, tucked it away in her mind. She knew, somehow, it would play a role in a future book, but at the time, she didn’t know how or when.

She could not even begin to imagine how the book and its topic would fan out across the United States.

About a month later, Raven’s publisher called her and, out of the blue, told the writer she thought the United States had forgotten what Veterans Day was about. The publisher said the country needed a book, and Raven was the one she thought should write it.

“I told her about the table, and she said, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, do Americans know about it?” Raven said.

Many did not.

Raven’s book about a little girl who helps her mom set up a White Table for her uncle, who is a veteran, changed that. Despite writing the book with Mike Benny’s illustrations, Raven doesn’t consider it “her book.”

“I was just the vessel to tell the story,” she said. “It’s their book, the veterans and those who serve.”

About three years ago, Kuhn found out about the book and the White Table from her daughter, an educator in Charleston.

“It just made so much sense to me,” Kuhn said. “I think, unless you served or somebody close to you served in the military, you really don’t know who or what a veteran is. And that’s especially true for the kids.”

Kuhn, along with the other Alpha Chi chapter members, began taking the book and table to area elementary schools and public libraries. She also developed lesson plans that teachers could use in class. Veterans Day and related concepts are part of the state curriculum standards known as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. So, the program is more than a person reading the book next to a table, it is part of a student’s education

As she wrote the book, Raven began to see the country as well as veterans and service members in a different light. While she always held the nation dear, during the writing process, the love for it grew and the gratitude she felt for veterans blossomed.

“I really fell in love with my country. Everybody should know this freedom we enjoy is so fragile and so special,” she said. “We have all this because of those veterans who felt the call to serve. Veterans are people who gave their life, their time and their loyalty to give us the next day of freedom. It just needs to be recognized every single day.”

After the book came out, Raven began hearing about projects such as the Alpha Chi chapter’s efforts occurring across the country. She hoped the book would make a difference, but even eight years later, she’s still grateful to those who keep reading it and telling the table’s story.

“I can’t tell you what it means to me,” she said. “I hope it’s everywhere. I hope it never stops.”

One of her hopes is a sculpture of the table finds its way into the Rose Garden at the White House. Raven said the White Table is probably the only pure, uncorrupted symbol left in the country. It’s believed members of the River Rat patrols during the Vietnam War set up the first one to honor those lost in combat, prisoners of war and missing in action. Eventually, it spread to other branches of the service and expanded to recognize all veterans.

Each part of the table symbolizes something. The white tablecloth is the pure intention in which the men and women of the armed forces serve; the setting for one person recognizes the vulnerability of a service member; a single rose symbolizes the blood shed as well as the family left behind; a slice of lemon is a reminder of the bitter fate some military members face; the salt recognizes the tears shed; the upturned glass reminds people somebody is missing who will not be able to join the dinner’s toast; the one candle represents the light in others’ hearts in the hope the service member makes it home; and, finally, one chair sits at the table and remains empty, a reminder that somebody is missing.

The symbolism isn’t lost on school children. Raven recalled hearing that, at one school, when someone tried to sit at a White Table, students immediately told them the meaning of it. In another school, after a White Table stood for the month of November and the janitor took it down, a child cried.

“I think that’s what the beauty of the table and book are,” Raven said. “It’s an object-based lesson so the kids get it. They understand it. It’s not some esoteric discussion about what a veteran is, but it’s something they can see.”

Kuhn hopes the book and the White Tables find a special place in the local schools and libraries. Already, educators and librarians have picked up on the meaning of the book and table. Kuhn pointed out as she and other members of Alpha Chi began passing out books and setting up tables, people began noticing. A Vietnam veteran walking through the Llano Public Library stopped and spoke with the Alpha Chi members as they set up a Remembrance Table. Others set aside time throughout the day to read the book to children.

“That’s how it’s all blossomed out from this community project,” Kuhn said. “It’s so exciting. I think it shows how much of an impact the book and the table has on people. I hope other school districts, as they hear about this, pick up on it.”

Raven agreed.

“Each of these veterans have a story. And their story is America’s story. If the table tells the story better than everything else we have right now, then great, let’s keep it going,” she said. “When you look at that table, it’s so small, but yet, it’s so big.”

daniel@thepicayune.com