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MORE ADDED TO ROLLS OF POWS, MIAS.


``I'd go tomorrow, and that's the God's truth.'' Wallace Howard, 74.

GRANADA HILLS

They sit around a table in the back room of the VFW See Video for Windows.  hall Wednesday afternoon - three grizzled griz·zled  
adj.
1. Partly gray or streaked with gray: a grizzled beard.

2. Having fur or hair streaked or tipped with gray.
 vets representing three generations of war in this country - talking about why this Friday night is so important.

There's Wally Howard from World War II, Max Quinton from Korea, and Jerry Anderson Jerry Anderson (born 22 September 1955) is a Canadian golfer.

Anderson was born in Cambridge, Ontario. He played on the European Tour for through most of the 1980s.
 from Vietnam, putting the last-minute touches on another POW-MIA Recognition Day ceremony.

Most years, they can expect only a few dozen people to show up at the candlelight ceremony - mostly old vets, and a few family members. Maybe a handful of local citizens who still remember.

But this year is different. This year, everyone should be remembering because, the way these men see it, the ranks of American POWs and MIAs - prisoners of war prisoners of war, in international law, persons captured by a belligerent while fighting in the military. International law includes rules on the treatment of prisoners of war but extends protection only to combatants.  and those missing in action - soared in this country last week.

``Every person on those hijacked airplanes was a prisoner of war PRISONER OF WAR. One who has been captured while fighting under the banner of some state. He is a prisoner, although never confined in a prison.
     2. In modern times, prisoners are treated with more humanity than formerly; the individual captor has now no
,'' says Anderson. ``And the thousands of people buried in the rubble of those towers, they're our new MIAs.

``Let's face it, some of those people we'll never find. The country's MIAs are here on our own homeland now.''

Hopefully, we won't forget them, the men from three generations of war say - not like we seem to have forgotten the POWs and MIAs from past wars.

If you want to find the heart of patriotism in this country, you don't go looking for Looking for

In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with.
 it in the White House, Congress, or any government building that has a flag flying out front.

You walk into a Veterans of Foreign Wars post or an American Legion American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.  hall. That's where you find the heart of patriotism.

It's an exclusive club. To get in, you had to put your butt on the line for this country. That's what these men did when they were young, and they'd do it again tomorrow in a heartbeat immediately.

See also: heartbeat
, they say.

And that's the God's truth.

They come off as tough, these guys, but they're not. It's a cover. Wave an American flag or play the national anthem, and they'll cry like babies.

Mention a name, a buddy who didn't make it home, and they'll take a walk outside to have a smoke and be alone with their tears.

Howard did Wednesday, breaking down while talking about his old submarine commander on the USS Harder Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Harder, named in honor of the harder, a fish of the mullet family found off South Africa.
  • The first Harder, (SS-257), was a Gato-class submarine, commissioned in 1942 and sunk in 1944.
, Sam Dealey, who was awarded the Medal of Honor Medal of Honor

highest American military decoration for wartime gallantry. [Am. Hist.: Misc.]

See : Bravery
 in World War II.

``As I left the elite Harder, I was so proud that I served five war patrols aboard a great boat, commanded by a great man,'' said Howard, a bosun's mate.

``On the Harder's sixth patrol off the Philippines, she was lost with all hands,'' he said. ``In my heart, I'm still on patrol with those guys until we meet in heaven.''

The raw shock of death and violence the nation's been feeling since that first jetliner crashed into the World Trade Center last week, these guys have been carrying around with them for most of their lives.

They can't forget. They won't. And after this immense wave of patriotism sweeping the country right now wears off, they hope we won't, either.

``We have a terrible habit of forgetting in this country,'' said Quinton, who served in Korea, an action often called the forgotten war.

``Let's hope we don't forget this time,'' he said.

The POW-MIA Recognition Day Candlelight Ceremony, hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 2323, is open to the public and begins at 7 p.m. Friday at Veterans Memorial Park, at Chatsworth and Zelzah streets.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

War veterans, from left, Wallace Howard, Jerry Anderson and Max Quinton hope non-vets will join them Friday night at a special ceremony to recognize prisoners of war and those missing in action.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer
COPYRIGHT 2001 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Sep 20, 2001
Words:633
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