Contact:
Gary D. Moore
Michigan Remembers Run Ride Chair
5161 Howard Road
Smiths Creek, MI 48074-2023
Phone: 810-987-9565
e-mail: mrr@gmasw.com
Web Site: www.michiganremembersrun.com
10th Annual Michigan Remembers Run (2008) Information & Staging Sites
Click here to download Staging Site Information (Microsoft Word Document)
Click here to download Staging Site Information (PDF Document)
Click here to download MRR Press Release (Microsoft Word Document)
Click here to download MRR Press Release (PDF Document)
Michigan: Michigan: National POW/MIA (Prisoner Of War/Missing In Action) Recognition Day is, by law, the third Friday of September (this year, September 20, 2008). Michigan Remembers Run is held the day after this annual day of remembrance. Speakers are: Representative John Espinoza (US Army 1st Sgt retired) POW Committee of Michigan President, Debbie (Pineau) Piepsney;; and Robert (Stretch) Cleeland, Senior Chief Master Sergeant (E-9), member of a POW rescue team, 1970.
POW/MIA family members, motorcycle riders and supporters of the POW/MIA issue gather on the Capitol steps in Lansing, Saturday, September 20, 2008, at 1:30 p.m. for a brief ceremony. The ceremony honors and remembers the 88,000 unaccounted for POW/MIAs from all U.S. wars and conflicts.
The ceremony begins prayer and a visual representation of the 77 Michigan POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War. A name is read, a bell chimes, and a person stands on the Capitol steps. The visualization of this number as well as hearing a name associated with a person is sobering. Fifty-Three Michigan residents are still unaccounted from the Vietnam War (remains of twenty-four POW/MIAs have been returned).
According to organizer Gary D. Moore of Smiths Creek, the 10th annual remembrance run focuses attention and shows support, for the POW/MIA issue, especially recognizing the difficulty for the families of the unaccounted for military personnel. Moore states, "Veterans and POW/MIA issue supporters ride to Lansing from numerous locations around the State. They ride to honor and remember the unaccounted for from U.S. wars and conflicts, and for the families who still, to this day, suffer in uncertainty of their unaccounted for loved ones. Recognition for POW/MIAs is significance and relevant because Michigan resident, Byron Fouty, is POW/MIA since June, in Iraq. We must have full accounting of everyone considered POW and MIA."
POW Committee of Michigan President, Debbie Piepsney adds, "We again gather to remember and to reaffirm that these American's are not, and will not be forgotten. Our resolve to achieve the fullest possible accounting remains absolute and uncompromising."
Each rider or participant is asked to donate ten dollars (US funds), and will receive a commemorative Michigan Remembers Run pin or patch. Proceeds go to the POW Committee of Michigan. The Michigan Remembers Run is open to the public, and non-motorcycle riders are welcome to attend. Up-to-date information, staging site locations, and contact lists are available on the Internet at: http://www.michiganremembersrun.com
Up-to-date information, staging site locations (throughout Michigan), and contact lists are available on the Internet at: http://www.michiganremembersrun.com
10th Annual Michigan Remembers Run (2008) Information & Staging Sites
Click here to download Staging Site Information (Microsoft Word Document)
Click here to download Staging Site Information (PDF Document)
Click here to download MRR Press Release (Microsoft Word Document)
Click here to download MRR Press Release (PDF Document)
Gary D. Moore
5161 Howard Road
Smiths Creek, MI 48074-2023
USA
e-mail: mrr@gmasw.com
Update: June 19, 2008