

You call them POW/MIAs. We call them our brothers and sisters. They are more than just names on a wall. They are men and women who went to war but never returned. Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #278, as individuals and as a whole, are dedicated to keeping alive the memories of our POW/MIAs. We include the missing man table in our annual Memorial Day service, we discuss the issue at every meeting, and more notably, we honor and remember them every year in our annual POW/MIA Vigil. The vigil is held every Labor Day week-end, and lasts one minute for each American who is unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, one minute for each American unaccounted for from the Korean War and whose name is engraved upon our local Korea/Vietnam Memorial, and one minute for each American unaccounted for from the ongoing war on terrorism. This year, 2017, marks the 30th year we have held POW/MIA Vigil. Fortunately, the number of minutes that we stand vigil has dropped dramatically in those years. However, as long as we have any American unaccounted for, we will stand vigil. We begin the vigil on Friday afternoon and close it with a candlelight service on Saturday night. We also have a candlelight service on Friday night, a POW meal on Saturday, and a balloon release following the Ride to Remember on Saturday. It is our way of making sure that our missing brothers and sisters are never forgotten.