They change stuff for whatever reasons in this series.
Context note: one will see a POW/MIA table at all formal military balls. There's a lone table with a lone chair and plate set, as if to say "this seat is for our brother/sister-in-arms for when they come back".
For all peeps complaining, looks like you forgot that the author said she changes some things, because it's a work of fiction. I wonder if you guys also complained about her birth circumstances, saying it's not accurate or true