POW-MIA ceremony set downtown Friday evening

By Staff Reports

Rolling Thunder Chapter 4 will conduct a POW-MIA Ceremony in downtown Elizabethton at the Carter County War Memorial Friday at 7 p.m.

The ceremony is in recognition of National POW-MIA Day, which is Sept. 21.

Recognized will be ex-POWs, of which there are still three, who live in the area. They include Tom McCloud, Korean War ex- POW, of Carter County; Harry Watson, ex-POW from World War II, of Carter County; and George Hatcher, ex-POW from World War II, of Unicoi County.

Among the MIAs from Carter County are Major Dale Johnson and Billy Joe Ellis from the Vietnam War; Medon A. Bitzer, Korean Conflict; and Frank V. Carver, Charles B. Franklin, John O. Lewis and Dewey E. Crowe from World War II.

The ceremony will include the roll call of POWs and MIAs from the area and the Missing Man Table ritual.

Allen Snipe is president of Rolling Thunder Chapter 4.