On Wednesday, May 21st POW/MIAs from across the country were honored during a special pre-Memorial Day event at the Crown Complex. Hosted by The Army’s Army and sponsored by the Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, the event featured a military world premiere of the POW documentary Never The Same, with appearances by the film’s director Jan Thompson, as well as celebrity guests Loretta Swit and Ed Asner.

Following the screening, WRAL’s Gilbert Baez moderated a live panel discussion with cast members and nine surviving POWs, including: Jacob G. Roth, John Leroy Mims, Oscar L. Leonard, E. Maurice Braswell, F. Paul Dallas, William Richardson, William Shirk, Lawrence Wilson and Raymond C. Schrump.

We would like to thank all of our sponsors and partners who helped us put together such an amazing event: Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, Fazoli’s, Crown Complex, Cowboy Limo, Luigi’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Double Tree Hotel, American Ex-Prisoners of War Greater Fayetteville Chapter 1, Gilbert Baez (WRAL), James R. Hollister, Jr. and the Rolling Thunder, Inc. Chapter 1 (NC), Paul and Francis Monroe, and Reverend Robert Alves.