Organizations are teaming up to plan a public event recognizing prisoners of war and military members who remain missing in action.
The POW/MIA Recognition Day program is set for 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at Wayne County Veterans Memorial Park. Admission is free.
The park’s entrance is just north of the first block of East Main Street in downtown Richmond.
Organizers include local chapters of Vietnam Veterans of America and Daughters of the American Revolution and the veterans park committee.
In addition to a wreath presentation, music, speakers and a final salute from Wayne County Honor Guard, special remarks are planned to honor Wally Dudek.
Dudek, who lived in New Madison, Ohio, died in 2019 at age 79. He joined the United States Army in 1957 and served in the 9th Infantry Division. He was active with Vietnam Vets 777 in Richmond and was a MIA-POW Representative for many years.
DAR will provide an update on its Enduring Promise brick dedication for Indiana’s World War II Missing in Action service members on Monument Circle in Indianapolis. The dedication took place Sept. 2, which was the 81st anniversary of the end of WWII.
Indiana DAR organized the $150,000 project to place personalized bricks for each of the 1,500 Hoosiers who are still missing from WWII.
According to a late June U.S. government publication, 231 missing service members were accounted for in 2025, including eight from the Vietnam War, with the remainder from World War II and the Korean War. Most recovery sites were in Europe and Southeast Asia.
At that time, 1,565 U.S. personnel were still missing from the Vietnam War.
A version of this article appeared in the September 16 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
