A silent walk for POW/MIAs

A silent walk for POW/MIAs

In honor of POW/MIA Recognition Day (the third Friday in September), The American Legion Department of Wisconsin’s 1st District has held a silent walk the day after POW/MIA Recognition Day for the past 30 years to honor the sacrifices made by America’s prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.

"The participants (veterans and civilians) walk in unison for less than a mile with reverent silence and the only sound to be heard is a lone drum beat," said Bob Miller, POW/MIA chairman for District 1 and a member of Post 24 in Lake Geneva, Wis. "What we are trying to achieve is just recognizing and not forgetting."

The POW/MIA silent walk, which is hosted by a one of the 45 1st District posts each year, starts at 11 a.m. and is followed by a ceremony that features a guest speaker, the reading of Wisconsin MIA Vietnam War servicmembers still unaccounted for and the release of black balloons.

About 100 veterans and civilians participated in last month’s walk, carrying U.S. flags, the POW/MIA flag and a 16-by-20 foot American Legion Department of Wisconsin banner that resides at Miller Park – home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team. The participants walked through residential neighborhoods in downtown Lake Geneva and ended at Post 24 where guest speaker John Scocos, Wisconsin’s secretary of veterans affairs, provided remarks and the names of the 28 MIA Wisconsin servicemen from the Vietnam War were read. The reading of each name was accompanied by the release of a balloon and the ringing of a bell. Last year, 29 names were read but the remains of U.S. Marine Merlin Raye Allen of Bayfield, Wis., was found and returned home. Balloons were also released in honor of all POW/MIA servicemembers still unaccounted for.

"It is a very moving observance and an appropriate manner in which to show our respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice while in captivity and for those missing in action whose fate is still undetermined," Miller said. "We never play Taps during the ceremony because Taps means burial and the end of a (servicemember's) story. Until they are identified, we always assume that they are still out there – there is always hope."

Miller said posts start planning in January for the event and promote it through stories in the local newspapers, business cards, invitations to posts and the selling of T-shirts that commemorate the event. Posts wanting information on how to model 1st District's POW/MIA silent walk, contact Bob Miller: bmillerplake@gmail.org

Additionally, during the Legion’s 96th national convention in Charlotte, N.C., the National Executive Committee passed Department of Wisconsin’s Resolution 208, which states that "The American Legion petition Congress to authorize a forever POW/MIA stamp to honor the sacrifices of the brave men and women of the armed forces who are still prisoner, missing, or unaccounted for while serving in any conflict – past, present or in the future."