STUDENTS REMEMBER PRISONERS; OBSERVANCES HONOR MIA/POW WEEK

A 24-hour flag vigil in front of Academic Hall, and a flyover of Houck Stadium by four Air Force A-10 (Warthog) jet aircraft prior to the Nov. 9 Southeast Missouri State University football game will highlight Missing in Action/Prisoner of War Awareness Week, which begins Monday.

The event is sponsored annually by Detachment 437 of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, and the Roth-Gregory Squadron of the Arnold Air Society. The detachment's 43 cadets are enrolled in a four-year, Air Force ROTC commissioning program.

Capt. Paul Keeping, aerospace studies instructor, said the Arnold society, named for Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold, five-star general of the Army Air Forces during World War II, is an honorary organization of the Air Force ROTC, devoted to service to the university and the community.

He said MIA/POW Awareness Week is sponsored each year by the cadets and the society to remind all Americans of the 2,200 American servicemen, including 52 from Missouri, who are still prisoners of war, or missing in action.

Keeping said the MIA/POW flag will be flown daily throughout the week at the Air Force ROTC house at 814 N. Henderson.

Between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., an informational table will be set up at Academic Hall with a petition to sign that will be sent to Washington in support of America's missing servicemen.

Those signing the petition will be given a small yellow ribbon. In addition, everyone is asked to wear black and white on Monday as a reminder of the MIAs and POWs still unaccounted for, Keeping said.

On Tuesday, yellow ribbons will be passed out on campus in remembrance of the missing servicemen.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, cadets and members of the society will lead a candlelight march from the ROTC house on North Henderson to the Academic Terraces.

Wednesday is MIA/POW T-shirt Day. Keeping said 1991 POW/MIA T-shirts will be on sale for $8 at the Air Force ROTC house from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Students and faculty and the general public Thursday will be encouraged to wear red, white and blue ribbons or clothing to show their support for the missing or captured American servicemen.

At 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the cadets will begin a 24-hour, candlelight vigil at the Academic Hall flagpole. During the vigil, a cage, symbolic of the cages used to hold American servicemen in while they were in captivity in Vietnam, will be on display near the flagpole.

The vigil will end Friday at 4:30 p.m., followed by a rally in front of Academic Hall. Ken Scheer, a retired Air Force flight officer who was held captive by the Viet Cong, will speak at the rally.

Following the rally, detachment cadets will conduct a formal retreat ceremony at 5 p.m. at the Academic Hall flagpole.

Throughout the day Friday, all cadets will wear their Air Force ROTC uniforms.

On Saturday, the detachment color guard and cadets will participate in the Veterans Day parade in Sikeston.

At 1:50 p.m. Saturday, there will be a pre-game show in Houck Stadium in honor of the MIA/POWs, with the detachment's color guard, cadets and service veterans participating. The program will end with a moment of silence to honor missing and captive servicemen. Four Air Force A-10 Warthog jets will fly in formation over the stadium to end the program.