Al Lawler stands with the national POW/MIA flag for POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day to remember prisoners of war and those still missing in action. Lawler helped coordinate a 24-hour event on Academy Lawn last Friday to help raise awareness of missing soldiers.
(Newark Post) Karie Simmons reports ~ Group's prayer for POW/MIA soldiers: 'Bring the guys home'
For 24 hours last Friday, a group of soldiers, veterans, VFW members and other military supporters huddled in a circle on the Academy Lawn, said a prayer and lit a candle each hour.
The service was in observance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day to remember prisoners of war and those still missing in action. The day is observed across the nation each year on the third Friday of September.
Al Lawler, who helped coordinate the event, served in the Korean War and comes from a military family, so he said the day really hits home for him. “I'm American as hard as you can get,” he said. “This day means to bring the guys home.”
As of April 2009, there were 1,741 Americans listed by the Defense Department's POW/MIA Office as missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. Of those still missing, most were lost in Vietnam or areas of Laos and Cambodia.
Members of the Newark VFW Honor Guard stand next to the offical POW/MIA flag before firing off three rounds last Friday for National POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day to remember prisoners of war and those still missing in action.
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