Among the almost 60 uniformed ROTC students, who gathered in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union Friday to honor America’s prisoners of war and those missing in action, was a woman wearing civilian clothing. She had come to remember her brother, Donald Sparks, an Iowa State alumnus and an unaccounted for Air Force private first class.

“We remember today your sacrifice in war, that we may live in peace,” said ROTC Cadet Maj. Mark Fienhold.

The ceremony, sponsored by Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC programs, recognized and remembered eight ISU alumni POW/MIAs, and commemorated the POW/MIA National Recognition Day.

The afternoon’s guest speaker, Maj. Richard Breitbach, called those honored “America’s heroes.”

“You are not forgotten, and we will never, ever forget,” he said.

Breitbach said the Americans who sacrificed themselves through military service are the “key ingredient to the recipe we call freedom. They have given everything of themselves to defend our nation’s honor.”

Breitbach said since the end of World War I, 90,000 Americans who served in the armed forces are missing, and 2,177 of them are Iowans. “Remember that these numbers are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers from every walk of life,” he said.

Breitbach told the story of meeting his own “real-life hero” in Vietnam, POW Mike Lang. Breitbach said Lang was a POW for more than six years and endured interrogations, beatings, disease and battle with starvation in order to “return with honor.”

“You see how precious life really is through the eyes of those who are taken as prisoners of war,” Breitbach said.

A proclamation issued by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was read during the ceremony by Cadet 2nd Lt. Jessica Jordan. The proclamation declared Sept. 18 as POW/MIA Recognition Day and included a plea to President Clinton to help account for the 2,081 Americans and 40 Iowans still missing from the Vietnam War.

The statement called on the president to “reinvigorate U.S. efforts to press Vietnam to locate and return remains that would account for hundreds of Americas POW/MIAs.”

Breitbach said the recognition day is meaningful to ROTC students because “it’s important for them to understand why they’re doing this. The recognition events allow them to understand what the basis of our freedom is really about.”

Friday’s speech was the finale to the ROTC POW/MIA recognition activities, which also included a formal retreat on central campus and a 32-mile run from Des Moines to Ames.