VFW Post holds POW/MIA ceremony

On Friday, Sept. 17, Commander Stephanie Brown of Maurice T. Suttles, VFW Post 3413 honored the nation’s Prisoners of War and Missing in Action (POW/MIA) for all wars and conflicts in an annual ceremony.

The San Marcos High School AFJROTC opened the ceremony with the posting of the colors and later performed the Missing Man Table Ceremony.

Speakers for the night were Dr. Harlan Ballard, Army Veteran and educator at Texas State University. Dr. Ballard was a Title Commander in the 370th Transportation Battalion for almost four years and spent a total of seven years in the U.S. Army Reserve. Dr. Ballard talked about POW/MIA and the number of soldiers that are still missing and prisoners of war that we have to bring home.

The second speaker was State Rep. James White, who is an Army Veteran and is a native of Texas. Rep. White graduated with honors from Prairie View A&M University then went on to serve five years in the U.S. Army. He became a public-school educator, teaching US Government and Economics along with being a coach for football, basketball and soccer. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives for District 19 in 2010. He is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Tyler County TX. Rep. White talked about the importance of locating and identifying the POW/MIA’s finding them so their family and the country could have closure.