An empty chair, set up to honor people who have been prisoners of war or remain missing in action, will be the latest feature of the Capitol complex, under a bill (HB 731) signed Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.
“The POW-MIA Chair of Honor Memorial will be a reminder to all Floridians of those Americans who have been prisoners of war or are still missing in action, that we should never forget their sacrifices in service to our great nation,” Port Orange Republican Sen. Dorothy Hukill, the Senate sponsor of the POW-MIA bill, said in a prepared statement.
The POW-MIA Chair is to be built and maintained by the Florida chapters of Rolling Thunder, Inc., a non-profit that publicizes the plight of American POW-MIAs.
Gov. Scott served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. Last week while in Pensacola for a campaign stop, he talked about the honoring the Vietnam War veterans.
“I got out of active duty in 1974 and out of the reserves in ’77,” said Scott. “Back then Vietnam veterans were not treated very well. It’s very important that all our veterans are treated well and not forgotten. The Vietnam War was one people didn’t think a lot about. It’s important to honor all our veterans, but in this case, these veterans had not been honored enough.”
–The News Service of Florida contributed to this post.