Alumni inducted into Army ROTC Hall of Fame

Organization identifies bodies of POWs and MIAs

1977 KU graduate Michael Flowers is the brigadier general and USA commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, which locates the bodies of soldiers lost in wars.

By Courtney Condron

Friday, November 2nd, 2007

Finding and identifying remains of American soldiers, such as teeth, bones, medals and letters, is the goal of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command.

There are 88,000 Americans still missing or unaccounted for from previous U.S. conflicts. The command has recovery and investigation missions in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Europe. Michael Flowers, brigadier general and USA commander of the accounting command, negotiates with leaders of foreign countries about doing excavations and searches for remains in their countries.

“It’s important because folks in the military are pretty much told that the army will not leave anyone behind,” Flowers said.

Flowers, a 1977 KU graduate, spoke to the Army ROTC yesterday about his job, leadership and the important things to remember while serving. Flowers, along with two other alumni, Edward Reilly, chairman of the United States Parole Commission, and Judge J. Miles Sweeney, vice chairman of the Circuit Court Budget Committee, will be inducted into the Army ROTC Hall of Fame on Saturday.

“When I graduated my intentions were to serve my four years of commitment and get out of the service, so this is an honor,” Flowers said.

The three inductees will attend a ceremony before the football game and will join the Hall of Fame. Eleven other alumni have been inducted into the hall since it was started two years ago.

Tyler Able, Billings, Mont., senior and Army publications officer, said, “We want to get them to realize that their achievements have not been forgotten.”

John Basso, ROTC professor and lieutenant colonel, said that the Hall of Fame was created to help establish and foster a strong sense of tradition.

“We want the cadets to realize that they are certainly not the first to go through this program,” Basso said.

Sweeney has tried more than 300 jury trials and has implemented local improvements in the jury system. Reilly is also a member of the American Correctional Association, the Association of Paroling Authorities International and the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

Flowers was deployed during several military operations, including Operation Desert Storm. He continues to travel and oversee the mission of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. The command was the only organization in the world working to discover soldiers’ remains, until they helped Korea form its own organization last January. More than 1,300 soldiers have been identified through dental records, DNA samples and other methods and returned to their families.

“When we do ID someone, it’s very rewarding to sit down with the family,” Flowers said.

Flowers said the command needed DNA references from family members of missing soldiers. Anyone who has a missing relative can go to their Web site at www.jpac.pacom.mil to donate DNA.

“We will be doing this mission until the president says we’re not going to do it anymore,” Flowers said.

— Edited by Amelia Freidline

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