The Toledo Lions Club and Rolling Thunder will unveil a Chair of Honor at the home opener boys basketball game on Friday, Dec. 3, at George Murdock Gymnasium.
The chair recognizes the sacrifices made by men and women of the armed forces who are prisoners of war (POWs) or missing in action (MIAs) and have never returned home, according to a Toledo School District news release.
“The chairs also remind us of the men and women who serve our country daily around the world,” said the news release.
There are currently 400 Chairs of Honor throughout the United States, but this chair is the first to be placed in a high school in Washington state, according to Rick Holland of Rolling Thunder.
There are currently only three in Washington: one in the Spokane Veterans Arena, one in the Spokane Arista Stadium and one at Central Washington University’s ROTC hall.
Chairs of Honor can also be found in the Capitol in Washington, D.C., town halls, stadiums, arenas and state houses around the country.
“The chair remains vacant at all times signifying that there will always be a place for our POW/MIA soldiers,” said the news release.
“The Rolling Thunder mission is to bring awareness of POW/MIA issues to the public. The Chair of Honor program is just one of the ways that we accomplish this mission,” said Holland. “This is recognition of the sacrifices of over 81,000 POW/MIAs since WWII.”
The public is invited to attend the dedication at halftime of Friday’s game.
