POW/MIA Traveling Memorial In Florissant, MO This Week

By Carmelo Turdo

The Traveling POW/MIA Exhibit, sponsored by the AMVETS Department of Missouri, is currently on display at the James J. Eagan Center in Florissant this week.  The exhibit features large panels containing memorials to Missouri residents killed or missing in our nation's armed conflicts.  Also included in the exhibit is the small table setting used in the POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony - a moving reminder of the contrast between the conditions of a prisoner of war and those of us still free in our own land.  Photo albums and diaries are also  available for the public to peruse and reflect upon the sacrifices of local veterans.  

Several St. Louis area residents are featured, namely Sergeant First Class Charles F. Prevedel and 1Lt. Michael J. Blassie, who were MIA for a significant period before being discovered and honored among the fallen.  U.S. Air Force A-37 pilot Lt. Blassie's remains were interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the Vietnam War from 1984 until 1998, when they were identified and transferred to Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery near his St. Louis home.   

If you are in the St. Louis area, visit the exhibit and then give a hearty "Thank You" to veterans you know or meet in the future.