Andersonville, Ga.
(Aug 28, 2008) – Rolling Thunder’s 2008 Ride Home – a multi-day annual
activity held in conjunction with the National Park Service’s Andersonville
National Historic Site and Georgia Southwestern State University to recognize
and honor the nation’s Prisoners of War (POW) and those Missing in Action (MIA)
– will be held in Andersonville and Americus, Ga., Sept. 17-20, 2008.
“The 2008 Ride Home, which is supported
this year by Rolling Thunder® chapters from 11 states, is part
of a series of events conducted jointly with the National Park Service in
Andersonville to honor those former POWs from all wars who have returned home
and remember those who are still listed as MIA,” said Jim Moyer, Ride Home
board chairman.
According to Moyer, more than 1,000 Rolling
Thunder members are expected to gather in Andersonville and Americus to honor an
estimated 100 former POWs scheduled to attend this year’s program of events as
guests of Rolling Thunder.
While Friday, Sept.19, is the official National
POW/MIA Recognition Day, the four days of recognition activities begin at 11
a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, with a convocation sponsored by the National Park
Service and hosted by Georgia Southwestern State University at the Student
Success Center in Americus.
The guest speaker will be Joseph Hudson of
Alamogordo, N.M. He was a 23-year-old U.S. Army specialist with the 507th
Maintenance Group, Fort Bliss, Tex., who was shot three times, captured and held
by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army from March 23, 2003 until April 13, 2003.
On Thursday, Sept. 18, through Saturday, Sept.
20, the Park Service will host Bataan Death March survivor Colonel Glenn Frazier
at the National Prisoner of War Museum at the Andersonville National Historic
Site. Frazier, who was an underage U.S. Army volunteer from Fort Deposit, Ala.,
in 1941, will be autographing his book, “Hell’s Guest”, which is his account of
three harrowing years as a prisoner of war.
On Friday, Sept. 19, the official National
POW/MIA Recognition Day, Rolling Thunder’s formal activities will begin at 10
a.m. with a tribute service, “Keeping the Promise, We Will Not Forget” at the
First Baptist Church in Americus.
Scheduled speakers include: U.S. Air Force Major
General Albert G. (Jerry) Rodgers whose final active duty assignment was Deputy
Chief of Staff for Logistics at Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley,
AFB, Va.; U.S. Navy Captain Ronald Harrell, Commander of the FFG (Fast Frigate)
Class Squadron 14 at Naval Station Mayport, Fla.; Stephen E. Thompson, Family
and Veteran Liaison for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Honolulu,
Hawaii; and, Dr./Rev. Chuck Gass, the staff chaplain at the VA Medical Center in
Gainesville, Fla.
A Rolling Thunder escort to the tribute service
for the former POWs is scheduled to depart for the Baptist church from the
Wal-Mart parking lot in Americus at 9 a.m.
At 1 p.m. that afternoon the National
Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville will unveil a commemorative plaque
honoring POWs from the U.S. Army’s 42nd “Rainbow” Division.
Formed in August 1917, the “Rainbow”
nickname was given to the division after Colonel Douglas MacArthur, the new
division's Chief of Staff (and ultimately its commander), remarked that "the
42nd Division stretches like a Rainbow from one end of America to the other"
because it was comprised of National Guard units from 26 states and the District
of Columbia.
The division, which saw service in
both World Wars was deactivated in 1946; however it returned in 1947 as a
National Guard Division for New York, the state of its birth.
Currently headquartered at the
Glenmore Armory in Troy, N.Y., the division includes Army National Guard units
from 14 states: Connecticut, Main, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island,
South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Activities on Friday will continue at 4:30 p.m.
with Rolling Thunder’s annual tribute dinner followed by a candlelight
remembrance ceremony scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Both activities will be at the
Windsor Hotel in Americus.
The Missing Man Table, which honors the nation’s
POW/MIAs, will be the focal point of the evening. The single round table with
six empty place settings symbolize Americans from each of the five services - -
Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard - - and civilians who cannot
attend and will be participating in the evening’s activities in spirit only.
On Saturday, Sept. 20, Rolling Thunder’s Annual
POW Recognition will begin at 10 a.m. at the Rostrum at Andersonville National
Cemetery. The ceremony honors POWs who have returned home from World War II,
Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf wars.
A Rolling Thunder Heroes Escort Ride is scheduled
to depart for the Andersonville National Historic Site from the Wal-Mart parking
lot in Americus at 9 a.m.
The 1-14th Aviation Regiment from Fort
Rucker, Ala., will open the10 a.m. ceremony with a helicopter flyover of an
AH-64D Apache Longbow and an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.
A Roll Call of former POWs attending the ceremony
will precede a special presentation to each.
Music will be provided by the U.S. Marine Band
stationed at the Albany Marine Corps Logistics Base, SSgt Kristine Streng
conducting.
Rolling Thunder chapters sponsoring the 2008
Ride Home are located in Melbourne, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Gainesville,
Inverness and Sanford, Fla.; Waverly Hall, Ga.; Hartland, Mich.; Oxford, Miss;
Neshanic Station, N.J.; Newburgh, N.Y.; Statesville, Fayetteville, Franklinton,
Wilmington, Morrisville and Jacksonville, N.C.; Cleveland, Ohio; Coweta, Okla.;
Cheltenham, Penn; Shelby and North Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The national organization, Rolling Thunder, Inc.
was organized in 1987 to raise awareness of POW, MIA and Veterans rights issues.
It is known for its annual demonstration “Ride For Freedom” in Washington, D.C.
during Memorial Day weekend.
For more information visit both
www.POWRideHome.org and
www.nps.gov/ande/planyourvisit/things2do.htm
-3-
Editor’s
Note:
Rolling
Thunder contacts are Jim “Moe” Moyer, chair, (407) 448-1181,
moehog@verizon.net , or Fran Harrison, media liaison, (727) 398-3984,
faharrison@earthlink.net .
The National
Park Service, Fred Boyles, superintendent, Andersonville National Historic Site,
(229) 924-0343,
fred_boyles@nps.gov .
At Georgia
Southwestern State University, Stephen Snyder, (229) 931-2037,
ssnyder@gsw.edu .
