California VI

As promised, the following pictures are of the National POW/MIA Memorial in Riverside, California. The following was taken, verbatim, from the National POW/MIA website

"The Prisoner of War/Missing in Action National Memorial was designated as a national memorial by the U.S. Congress through Public Law 108-454 on December 10, 2004. Vietnam veteran Lewis Lee Millett Jr., sculpted the bronze statue which depicts an American serviceman on his knees with hands bound by his captors. The statue is surrounded by black marble pillars that evoke imprisonment. The memorial was formally dedicated at Riverside National Cemetery on September 16, 2005. It stands in honor to all American prisoners of war and those listed missing. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith) "

This, for me, was a very difficult site to visit. The plight of thousands upon thousands of soldiers tells the story of man's inhumanity to man. I have read that since the Revolutionary War, 188,000 are unaccounted for, and most probably never will be!

While this memorial honors ALL, I guess I will always see it as a 'Nam memorial. The fact that it was sculpted by a 'Nam vet and the presence of the POW/MIA flag which came from the Vietnam War adds to that feeling for me. I found an interesting site about the flag and you can read the interesting and touching story of the POW/MIA flag here;

http://www.rollingthunderco1.org/Pages/the_powmia_flag.htm