On Friday, September 19, members of the New Mexico Museum of Space History joined Paul “Chez” Sanchez, MSgt, USAF, Retired, at Holloman Air Force Base for the annual National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony.
Senior Instructional Coordinator Dr. Rebecca Michael, former Navy Air Medivac Hospital Corpsman, delivered this year’s moving tribute, following in the footsteps of past participant and Education Director Mike Shinabery.
POW/MIA Recognition Day, a day of profound historical significance, falls each year on the third Friday of September. Across our history, more than 600,000 Americans have been listed as POW or MIA, and their sacrifice, a cornerstone of our nation’s history, must never be forgotten.
At Holloman AFB, the commemoration spans a week of remembrance with three solemn elements: a 24-hour run, a 24-hour vigil, and the POW/MIA Ceremony. Twelve New Mexico service members are symbolically named to represent all POW/MIAs:
- PFC Max Coleman Simpson (Army)
- SSgt Stan Leroy Corfield (USMC)
- Maj John Sanders Oldham (USMC)
- SSgt Robert Steven Trujillo (Army)
- Col Bobby Gene Neeld (USAF)
- Capt Mitchell Sim Lane (USAF)
- SFC Ricardo Gonzalez Davis (Army)
- SFC Frederick Daniel Herrera (Army)
- Maj Calvin Walter Maxwell (Army)
- WO Bain Wendell Wiseman Jr. (Army)
- Lt Col Scott Winston McIntire (USAF)
- Lt Col Robert David Morrissey (USAF)
As President Calvin Coolidge reminded us in 1920, “The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” We must always remember those who sacrificed their freedom—and in too many cases, their lives—for ours.
