By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published October 1, 2025
NOVI — A small crowd gathered at Oakland Hills Memorial Gardens on Sept. 19 in front of the memorial dedicated to the memory of those who were taken as prisoners of war and those who are considered missing in action to pay tribute on National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
“Never forget. Never let your children forget how fortunate we are to have a force of men and women willing to safeguard our freedom,” said Debbie Pineau McClain, president of the POW Committee of Michigan. “Your attendance here today is a testament to the American public, grateful for the freedoms and liberties supplied through the heroics of men like the 84 on this wall. May we as loyal countrymen never abandon their memory or allow their sacrifices to slip from our national conscious.”
According to McClain, 1,566 families of soldiers who went missing during Vietnam are still wait to find out what happened to their loved ones. She said 48 of those families are from Michigan.
Jean Jacquin, a POW committee member and Farmington Hills resident, was a featured speaker during the ceremony. Her brother, U.S. Air Force Lt. James Arthur McEwen, has been missing since Oct. 22, 1965, when she was just 16 years old. According to Jacquin, at the time of his disappearance, McEwen was a navigator on a night reconnaissance mission in Vietnam. Jacquin got choked up as she spoke of the hardships her family has endured since they got that fateful knock on their door informing them that her brother was missing and how difficult it is to not know what happened to a loved one.
She said her brother was declared killed in action six months after he went missing and that they had a memorial service for him, but they have no idea what truly happened to him.
“None of my friends knew what to say to me. I felt alone,” Jacquin said.
She said her brother’s name was placed on a street sign in Washington, Pennsylvania, where they grew up, by a group of veterans.
“They just wanted to honor a missing man they didn’t even know,” she said.
Jacquin said the local POW/MIA committee has provided her with continued support and friendship.
“I appreciate the work done locally and nationally by the league. It represents families of missing and unaccounted service members.from past conflicts. The league tries to give closure to families,” she said.
Doug Pickel, a civilian craftsman and son of a World War II veteran, spoke of his involvement in Rolling Thunder Inc., an advocacy group for the POW/MIA community whose members ride motorcycles, and how he came to create plaques to honor families of POW/MIA service members.
“The lessons taught were the greater thing. See, because as a civilian, I have no idea what our servicemen and women went through. My father was silent, though; his service in WWII he never spoke. Whatever Dad experienced, he took it to his grave with him. So, I had to find that piece to my heart. Knowing that my whole life has been being wrong in everything I do, and there’s a lot of law enforcement that can tell you about my wrongs, but you see, God puts us all on this earth for a reason, and with purpose, you find your journey. No matter what it is, God gave us all a talent for a reason. I didn’t know it, but God gave me a talent of working with wood.”
Pickel has 27 pieces memorializing people at museums across the country.
“I have honored some of the most painful stories. Some of them have put me in therapy for a little time,” he said. “I couldn’t fathom how losing somebody and not knowing where they were would be like.”
He said that he was able to get that education through people he encountered through the organization.
“Today is a sacred day; it was set aside for us to honor our POWs and MIAs who haven’t come home yet. We as a society must fulfill that obligation,” Pickel said.
He recalled asking people years ago if they knew the significance of the third Friday in September, but nobody knew. He said his father had once told him that you can’t fault someone for not knowing something they weren’t told about, and how he stressed the importance of education. He said he is proud to work with Rolling Thunder to educate people on POWs and MIAs. Pickel stressed how important it is for the families to just know that people care.
“Whether you served or whether you’re civilians, God gave us talents. Use those talents to become a big random act of kindness for families who, in my eyes, have been forgotten,” Pickel said. “We as a country owe it to our POW/MIA families across this country to take this initiative and really get everybody brought home. It’s the least we can do.”
The ceremony concluded with the presentation and laying of wreaths, a benediction, the reciting of the names of all Michigan POW/MIAs, followed by a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps.
Vietnam War unaccounted for personnel from Michigan
• Allard, Richard Michael
• Anderson, Warren Leroy
• Austin, Ellis Ernest
• Beckwith, Harry Medford III
• Boltze, Bruce Edward
• Buckley, Louis Jr
• Carroll, Patrick Henry
• Chapman, Rodney Max
• Cline, Curtis Roy
• Crossman, Gregory John
• Cudlike, Charles Joseph
• Dailey, Douglas Vincent
• Dix, Craig Mitchell
• Feneley, Francis James
• Gauthier, Dennis Lee
• Green, Larry Edward
• Greiling, David Scott
• Groth, Wade Lawrence
• Hill, Robert LaVerne
• Holman, Gerald Allan
• Jarvis, Jeremy Michael
• Jerome, Stanley Milton
• Johnson, Bruce Gardner
• King, Donald Lewis
• Klimo, James Robert
• Klugg, Joseph Russell
• Kooi, James Willard
• Leonard, Marvin Maurice
• Marvin, Robert Clarence
• Massucci, Martin John
• May, Michael Frederic
• Nelson, James Raymond
• Paul, James Lee
• Perry, Otha Lee
• Riggs, Thomas Frederick
• Roberts, Richard Dean
• Seablom, Earl Francis
• Stroven, William Harry
• Stuifbergen, Gene Paul
• Tromp, William Leslie
• Tyler, George Edward
• Walker, Kenneth Earl
• Wallace, Michael John
• Welch, Robert John
• Woloszyk, Donald Joseph
• Worcester, John Bowers
• Wozniak, Frederick Joseph
• Wright, Arthur