Hundreds of soldiers and family members on Friday morning start the annual POW/MIA Walkathon on Fort Huachuca, which commemorates soldiers present and past that were made prisoners of war or who are still missing in action. (Ed Honda•Herald/Review)
Posted on 09/22/2007 7:44:24 AM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — The third Friday of September every year is set aside to honor America’s prisoners of war and those missing in action.
As has become a tradition on this Southern Arizona Army posts, members of America’s armed forces, former GIs, civil service employees and family members gathered on Chaffee Parade Field before the sun broke over the Mule Mountains to the east of the fort.
It was time for the annual POW/MIA Walkathon.
As the sky over the distant mountain range began brighten from the rising sun, a couple thousand GIs stood in unit formations.
The American flag was raised.
A prayer was said.
And a short speech was given.
Milt Moore, a retired Army staff sergeant, told those standing on the parade field of the importance to remember those who were held prisoners by an enemy and those whose whereabouts are unknown.
Although he is the president of the Cochise Chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, he never was the unwilling guest of an enemy.
He honors his father, an Army captain who was captured by the Germans during World War II, soon after landing at Normandy.
Moore, a two-tour veteran in Vietnam, said that although his father’s confinement, mostly in prisoner camps in Poland, was less than a year, he attempted to escape three times, finally making it to freedom in his last breakout.
The American Ex-Prisoners of War traces its roots back to the Bataan Relief Organization, a group founded in 1942 by family members of those captured by the Japanese, Moore said.
Over the years the organization grew and its name changed to accept all POWs from all theaters.
The first remembrance of those missing-in-action was held in 1979.
In the beginning, the day to honor POWs or those who are MIA was held in July. That later changed to April. In 1986, September was chosen for the event.
The people who walked on Friday were remembering former POWs, like Moore’s dad, and four soldiers whose whereabouts in Iraq have been unknown since their captured in 2004 to this year, and one Navy officer who went missing during an air combat mission over Iraq in 1991.
Those missing-in-action during the current war in Iraq are:
• Staff Sgt. Keith M. Maupin, 24, missing since April 9, 2004.
• Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie, 42, missing since Oct. 23, 2006.
• Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, missing since May 12, 2007.
• Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, missing since May 12, 2007.
Navy Lt. Comdr. Michael Speicher was declared missing-in-action in Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
Hundreds of soldiers and family members on Friday morning start the annual POW/MIA Walkathon on Fort Huachuca, which commemorates soldiers present and past that were made prisoners of war or who are still missing in action. (Ed Honda•Herald/Review)
Very important and I thank them for doing it!!
PRESENT ARMS!!!
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