Lauren Estes-Velez

Hartselle Enquirer

A ceremony held at the Morgan County Veterans Memorial in Priceville Friday recognized Prisoner of War/Missing in Action veterans.

The event was sponsored by the Combined Patriotic Organizations of Morgan County. The CPO commemorated the upcoming POW/MIA Recognition Day by hosting the ceremony at 600 Highway 67, Priceville, at 5 p.m.

“By honoring our POWs and our MIAs, we preserve history,” a spokesperson said.

This year’s guest speaker was Navy veteran Bob Jaques. Jaques retired in 2004 as a contract historian from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. He has lived in Hartselle since 1973. He served one tour of active duty with the U.S. Navy from 1958-1961 and then served three years inactive in the Reserve.

Jaques has presented programs to many organizations in North Alabama and other states on military historical topics. December 2016 he was the keynote speaker at the USS ALABAMA Pearl Harbor Remembrance Program. He has been interested in military history for many years and has met and interviewed many of the nation’s military heroes, from World War I to the present.

His topic Friday was “The Legacy of our POW/MIA.”

The CPO includes Blue Star Mothers of Morgan County AL2, American Legion Post 15, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4190, Marine Corps League of Morgan County #1427, Disabled Veterans of America Chapter 11, Eagles Aerie #4185, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks Lodge #655, Decatur Emblem Club #127, American Legion Post 310, Falkville VFW Post 10774, American Legion Post 52 and the Town of Priceville.

For more information, contact the CPO commander, Daniel Copeland, at 256-345-3590 or dcopeland35@charter.net.