GSW, Andersonville National Historic site to honor POW/MIA with Sept. 14 Convocation

Americus, GA (Sept. 1, 2016) – Georgia Southwestern State University and Andersonville National Historic Site will host the 11th annual Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Convocation on Wednesday, September 14 at 11 a.m. in Georgia Southwestern’s Student Success Center. Derek R. Mallett, Ph.D., will be the speaker. The event is free and open to the public.

The convocation is in conjunction with the POW/MIA Recognition Day events, which honor service members who were prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action.  Recognition Day will be observed on Friday, Sept. 16. The weekend will also honor former POWs and the families of those still MIA with The Ride Home event. The final schedule will be available soon at www.theridehome.com.

Mallett, who is currently an assistant professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Gordon, spent three years as a research historian for the former Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He has 15 years of teaching experience and has taught courses in American history, world history, military history, and Asian civilizations at institutions ranging from high school and community colleges to state universities and the professional military education system. Mallett’s research interests focus World War II and the early Cold War and prisoner of war studies.

Andersonville National Historic Site is located 10 miles south of Oglethorpe, GA and 10 miles northeast of Americus, GA on Georgia Highway 49. The national park features the National Prisoner of War Museum, Andersonville National Cemetery and the site of the historic Civil War prison, Camp Sumter. ¬Andersonville National Historic Site is the only national park within the National Park System to serve as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

For more information on these events, visit www.nps.gov/ande/planyourvisit/powmiarecognition.htm.

GEORGIA SOUTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY, located in Americus, GA, is a public, four-year University within the University System of Georgia. Georgia Southwestern offers professional programs of study and degrees in the arts, education, humanities, nursing, sciences, and graduate programs in business, computer science, education, English, and nursing. Founded in 1906, Georgia Southwestern is recognized as one of the best value small colleges in the nation. Visit www.gsw.edu for more information.

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