VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Naval Air Station Oceana will host its annual POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony at the Flame of Hope Memorial on Oceana Boulevard Thursday.
The guest speaker at this year's event will be former Virginia Senator Sonny Stallings.
Stallings served in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw combat in Vietnam in 1968. He was ambushed and shot seven times with an AK-47 and injured by shrapnel from five grenades. Stallings was captured by the enemy as a Prisoner of War, and was rescued by his fellow Marines.
Other groups participating in this year's event are the Patriot Guard riders as well as VFW Post 392.
As the sun sets, Julie Lupole from Post 392 Auxiliary will read the names of Virginia's POW/MIA that never made it home while a lone bugler plays taps.
The event begins at 6:40 p.m.