Base personnel honor POW/MIA

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Team Aviano concluded its POW/MIA commemoration week with a retreat ceremony Sept. 29 at the 31st Fighter Wing Headquarters.

Base members spent the week honoring the prisoners of war and those missing in action. Brig. Gen. Scott Zobrist, 31st Fighter Wing commander, and Italian air force Col. Luca Cappelli, Pagliano e Gori Airport commander, attended the ceremony.

"We are blessed with so much that we take for granted," Zobrist said. "The family members of those who are prisoners of war, those who are missing in action do not have all those things. Today and throughout the week, we have taken time to remember those who are prisoners of war and missing in action and their families."

During the week, Team Aviano hosted a series of activities as part of the POW/MIA commemoration. The week began with the Harley Owners Group and Green Knights' members participating in a reveille ceremony. Service members, civilians and dependents ran 111.5 miles Sept. 27-28 around the Dragon Fitness Center track as part of a 24-hour vigil run. Volunteers also read the names of prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.

Prior to the retreat ceremony, more than 60 volunteers, including firefighters in full gear and military working dogs, walked 10 kilometers around the base perimeter as part of POW/MIA ruck march. Free burgers were also served after the retreat ceremony at Freedom Park.

"The entire week showed how much the wing and local community appreciated all of the difficult times the POW/MIA members had to endure," said Staff. Sgt. M. Linette Quinn, 31st Munitions Squadron nondestructive inspection craftsman and POW/MIA commemoration organizer. "Considering the amount of events and the amount of hours that were required to ensure the events went well it would have been absolutely impossible without the many volunteers we had."

Event coordinators were key to ensuring the events went well and leadership and members throughout the wing helped with spreading the word about the events, Quinn said. Without the support of the entire base, this week could not have been a success.

"All of the events were to pay tribute to the past and present POW/MIA members," she said. "Many of the events were a test of the participants' intestinal fortitude. Though it was nowhere near the sacrifices the POW/MIA members have had to make, it was a small comparison for people to understand just how much pain the POW/MIA members have endured."