Mayor Misty Clanton has proclaimed Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 as “POW/MIA Recognition Day” in DeRidder and urges residents to pause and remember the sacrifices of those who were prisoners of war (POW) as well as those who are missing in action (MIA), and their families.
Mayor Clanton gathered this morning with local veterans groups to make the proclamation. The third Friday of every September is set aside as “National POW/MIA Recognition Day.”
“It is important to recognize not only those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States in defense of our national principles and for the liberty and freedoms we enjoy as a Nation, we need not forget the family members of our unreturned veterans,” the proclamation reads.
The measure makes mention of Sgt. Maj. Edward Joseph Guillory as one of the city’s lost, but not forgotten. Guillory was reported missing and ultimately declared dead on June 18, 1967 in South Vietnam. Guillory is memorialized at Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. VFW post 3619