You Are Not Forgotten

August 4, 2009 — The title of today's blog is sort of the battle cry of many POW/MIA organizations in this country. These groups have come into being primarily as a result of the Vietnam War, but has come to encompass all POW/MIA from all wars this country has been involved in. There are other battle cries also such as We Shall Never Forget. What do these battle cries mean? Well the recent discovery of the remains of Navy Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher tells it all. http://www.military.com/news/article/missing-pilots-remains-found.html?col=1186032325324

Someone, somewhere has never forgotten Capt. Speicher and they did not forget for over 18 years. Capt. Speicher was the first air casualty of the first Gulf War and was lost on January 17, 1991 just after the start of action in that war. Someone never gave up on finding this airman and in bringing him home. Someone did the right thing. And oh how proud it makes me feel. Capt. Speicher's family now knows for sure what happened to him and can give some sort of closure to it all. Now they will have a place that is not in some distant and foreign land to which they can go to honor him and to remember.

There are many such stories like this that have been happening since the government has made an effort to find out what has happened to the many POW/MIA. Some of these stories are heartwarming and some are truly tragic. I have had the honor to be a part of a dedication my VFW Post made to one such POW/MIA. The Mother of one of our members had worn a POW/MIA bracelet of Major Larry James Hanley a US Air Force pilot gone missing over Laos on November 4, 1968. Up until February 6, 1979 when he was officially declared "Hostile-Died Missing" he was simply listed as missing in action. Our member's Mom wore that bracelet from the time they first came out and gave it to her son some years later. Our Post decided to adopt Maj Hanley as our special POW/MIA and in September 2003 we dedicated an entire wall in our Post home to the memory of him and all POW/MIA. I am proud to say that the wall memorial was made possible by a generous contribution of my niece. She did the right thing! By the way, the dedication ceremony was attended by one of Maj Hanley's sisters and her husband from Washington state. It was a great day!

So, the battle cry You Are Not Forgotten has a deep meaning. It is something the people of this country should always remember. It's what really matters!