The cadets of Air Force ROTC Detachment 845 are hosting the 27th Annual POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. to honor the nation’s prisoners of war and those who are missing in action.
Events for the ceremony will officially begin today at 3 p.m. with the honor guard detail replacing the TCU flag with the POW/MIA flag. The color guard is a part of the TCU ROTC honor guard and is in charge of ceremonial activities including presenting the flag and the changing of the colors. Cadets will stand guard in front of the flags in front of Sadler Hall until tomorrow at 5 p.m, at the conclusion of the ceremony. The cadet standing guard will change every 15 minutes.
Other events include the POW/MIA run, which will occur tomorrow at 6 a.m., before the actual ceremony at 3:30. Two cadets will run approximately a mile block around campus holding the POW/MIA guidon, a military staff with a spade-like ornament on top. The ceremony will be held on campus at the Robert Carr Chapel.
The guest speaker Lt. Col. John Yuill served from 1954 until his retirement in 1979. He served as an F-86, B-58, C-130 and B-52 pilot, completed and instructed – as an instructor pilot – various combat crew trainings, and was taken into captivity for 98 days in North Vietnam while on temporary duty in Southeast Asia. Yuill received numerous Air Force awards including the Bronze Star with Valor, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor and the Purple Heart. His son, Col. Mike Yuill , was an ROTC cadet at TCU in the 1980s and retired from the Air Force last year. In 1991 Lt. Col. Yuill had his freedom flight. He and his son flew in a four ship formation of T-38s at Randolph AFB, an Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Immediately following the ceremony there will be Retreat and Taps on the lawn of Sadler Hall where the honor guard will take down the POW/MIS and American flags. The retreat is signified by the switching {back} of the flags, which will occur at 5 p.m., and the singing of Taps, a U.S. military song that signifies ‘lights out”, will officially close the ceremony. A reception will follow at Scharbauer Hall.
What: POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony
When: Thursday, Sept. 15
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Where: Robert Carr Chapel 2855 South University Drive
Dress: Service Dress or Business Attire
Retreat and Taps on Sadler Lawn and a reception at Scharbauer Hall will follow the ceremony.
Any TCU student is allowed to attend the ceremony in Robert Carr Chapel and the Retreat/Taps on Sadler Lawn.
The reception in Scharbauer is by invitation only.
