Monday, Oct 1, 2007
Andersonville National Historic Site sponsored a series of events to commemorate National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day. The day is set aside by Presidential proclamation on the third Friday of each September to remember all who have been POWs and those still listed as MIA. The theme of the program was “Race and the American POW.”
On Wednesday, September 19th, the park co-sponsored with Georgia Southwestern State University a public forum at the Rylander Theater featuring Colonel Fred Cherry, USAF (Ret.) and Commander Porter Halyburton, USN (Ret.). The forum was moderated by Dr. Glenn Robbins, professor of history at Georgia Southwestern. The two aviators were POWs in Vietnam, where their captors placed them in a cell together thinking that their racial differences would result in conflict. The two men became life-long friends. Each credits the other with saving his life through seven plus years of captivity and torture. The event was attended by over 200 people. With the help of Eastern National, a book signing of their book, Two Souls Indivisible, was held with the two men after the program.
On Thursday, September 20th, the park sponsored a reception to honor former POWs. The reception was sponsored by the Friends of Andersonville, with funding provided by the Andersonville Trust.
Georgia Southwestern was the location on Friday morning of a student convocation attended by more than 600 college and high school students to hear former POW and aviator from the famed Tuskegee Airmen, Luther Smith, speak about his experiences. Captain Smith spoke about his desire to fly, about his service with the Tuskegee Airmen, and about being shot down and captured. The program was introduced by University president Kendall Blanchard. The East Cowetta High School Marine Corps JROTC provided a silent drill team tribute to the approximately 50 former POWs in attendance. All the former POWs were escorted in an impressive processional from Andersonville to the university by over 200 motorcycles from Rolling Thunder.
On Saturday, a ceremony sponsored by Rolling Thunder was conducted at Andersonville National Cemetery. The program was aimed at remembering those families who have loved ones still missing in action and to seek a full accounting for each MIA. The principal speaker was Chief Warrant Officer Guy Hunter, USMC (Ret.), who was a POW in Iraq during the first Gulf War. The event was attended by over 500 visitors.
The partnership between Andersonville, Georgia Southwestern and Rolling Thunder has evolved into a major park event. Each of the public events received extensive media attention for the park and for the cause that POW/MIA Recognition Day stands for. Andersonville was designated as the memorial to all POWs in American history by Congress in 1970.
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