Albany Herald

Georgia Southwestern State University 

AMERICUS — For the second consecutive year, the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will make a stop at Georgia Southwestern State University in honor of National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day, university officials said Wednesday.

The Georgia Southwestern campus will serve as the memorial’s site Thursday-Saturday, during which time it will be open to the public 24 hours a day. National POW/MIA Recognition Day is Friday.

The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is a three-fifths scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., and is nearly 300 feet in length. The “Some Gave All Wall” will be in place for viewing as well in the GSW Storm Dome. This wall displays the names of all service men and women who’ve died in the line of duty since Sept. 11, 2001.

The Traveling Wall is making its stop at the university by way of Rolling Thunder’s annual “The Ride Home” event, university officials said. That three-day event includes ceremonies to remember military service members still listed as missing in action, to honor former POWs, and a wreath-laying ceremony at Andersonville National cemetery.

Also, in recognition of National POW/MIA Recognition Day 2012, the Andersonville National Historic Site, the Friends of Andersonville and Georgia Southwestern are hosting the 2012 National POW/MIA Convocation at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the university’s Jackson Performance Hall. The speaker will be former POW Bill Arcuri, whose aircraft was shot down over Hanoi, North Vietnam, on Dec. 20, 1972. He was captured and held captive by the North Vietnamese Army until Feb. 12, 1973.

“The Ride Home” was founded by members of Rolling Thunder from Florida and Georgia.