Vance 2007 POW/MIA retreat ceremony

Col. Richard Klumpp, Jr., 71st Flying Training Wing commander, spoke to more than 100 base members and guests at the Vance 2007 POW/MIA retreat ceremony Friday. The guest of honor was Fran Hoad, a World War II prisoner of war who spent 13 months in a German prison camp after his B-17 aircraft was shot down by 105mm guns over Belgium April 10, 1944. In his speech, Colonel Klumpp said, “We salute the quiet courage of families who have waited, in some cases for decades, for word of a loved one’s fate. Our solemn pledge to these families is that we will never forget their loved one’s sacrifices, and we will never cease our efforts to locate them and return them home.” At the conclusion of the ceremony, Colonel Klumpp and Mr. Hoad laid a wreath at the base of the flagpole in front of the Vance headquarters building. A group of T-38s from the 25th Flying Training Squadron flew over the gathering in a “missing man” formation to symbolize fallen comrades. POW/MIA Recognition Day was established in 1979 to honor prisoners of war who returned home, as well as those still missing in action.(U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Tony Wickman)