2011
POW-MIA Balloons Found IRONS MICHIGAN - DETROIT
MICHIGAN QUEBEC CANADA - TORONTO
CANADA MAINE - MONTREAL CANADA
- VERMONT
10th Anniversary POW-MIA Balloon Launch
Part I
10th Anniversary POW-MIA Balloon Launch
Part II
2011 POW-MIA Balloon Launch
10,000 POW-MIA BALLOONS READY TO BE RELEASED
TO THOSE THAT MISSED THE 14TH
ANNUAL LAUNCH! I tried to get the word out
to everyone that the Balloon Launch/Ceremonies were not taking place at the
Bunker anymore. It was moved to Wind Lake and was taking place on the Veterans
grounds, next to Badlanders Pub & Grill. Exit Hwy 36 & Y - near the
old Kellys Bleachers. There is only one Wisconsin
POW-MIA National Balloon Launch , and it has been going on since 1988, and was
founded, and continues to be run by "Jeff Doc Dentice"
Wind Lake, Wisconsin - POW-MIA Balloon Launch
Site VFW POST 8343 VETERANS MEMORIAL GROUNDS
REMEMBER 3rd Friday in September is National POW/MIA
Recognition Day. Every US Post Office in the country is required,
by law, to fly/post our POW/MIA flag. If it's not up, make sure they are aware of
the law that requires it be posted six days a year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day,
Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day and Veterans Day.
2011 Wreath Presenters
Doc's 14th
Annual POW-MIA Balloon Launch Wind Lake,
WI. - Memorial Day 2011
Gary Wetzel (CMOH) Doc Dentice - Best friends
for 25 years
http://youtu.be/luz1Hy2NFUQ
AMERICAN POW-MIA'S THE REAL STORY
Jeff Doc
Dentice
THANK'S TO ALL
FOR MAKING THE 14TH A SUCCESS I AM ALREADY WORKING
ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL DAY 2012 WILL
BE A VERY SPECIAL TRIBUTE PLEASE TELL ANYONE AND
EVERYONE DOC JEFF DOC
DENTICE
WISCONSIN
POW-MIA LAUNCH FOUNDER
POW-MIA
Balloon Launch May
30, 2011 THANK
YOU FROM "DOC" 90 degree's and sunshine At 8am the Volunteers began preparing for
the 14th annual launch. That was the day after we did
the setup in the rain and 50 degrees. Balloons were
being filled and the heat was intense. Folks started showing
up by 11am. Ceremonys began at 2:45pm and a crowd
of 1,000 was on hand for the 1st ever launch in Wind
Lake, Wisconsin. Thank You to all the Volunteers for being
there for me this year. Its was tough going, as we needed about 50 more Volunteers
which would have made it easier for those inside the cargo
chute in 100 degree+ temps. But we got it done, and the ceremony - with
rifle squad and Echo taps and the national anthem sung beautifully by Brianna
Braunson, and the placing of the wreaths by the Combat Vets Association and
Region 4 UAW Vets was fantastic and emotional. As Doc read a POW-MIA
prayer he wrote, even he had to hold it all together and get his message
out to everyone. There were many tears flowing through the crowd, and Remembering
those who have fallen and those who are still POW-MIA is what this event
is all about.
Hoping that by 2012 everyone will know that
the launch was moved to Wind Lake Your all invited to this very special tribute
- Its one you won't want to miss.
PRICELESS
DONATION Thanks
To Margaret Walters(105 years old) & her sister Lois Walters(102 years
old) These
Ladies from Wild Rose, Wisconsin wanted to help with the 2011
Balloon Launch in some way. They each donated $5.00 in honor
of Betty Kordus, a senior herself, who drives them to Dr. appointments.
Amy
Norman - Irons, Michigan Found
a 2011 POW-MIA balloon 200 miles from Wind Lake, WI. Thanks
Amy - Remember Our Veterans
Combat Vets Association - Wreath Presenters
2011 Launch
Jeff "Doc" Dentice has
put together the largest & longest running POW/MIA Balloon Launch
in POW/MIA Freedom Fighter's history and the Nation! Join him and the Crew
on Memorial Day 2012 for the 15th Anniversary Wisconsin POW/MIA Balloon
Launch! Jen - Freedom Fighter's
2011 Thank
You's Region
4 UAW Badlanders
Pub & Grill Ultimate
Beach Tanning Pepsi
Beverages - Pleasant Prarrie, WI. MillerCoors
- Eagle Media George/Lori
Klingspahn Keith
Johnstone - Elizabeth Kordus Jill
- Stick With Our Troops UAW Local
588 Vets Committee Barricade
Flasher - Oak Creek, WI. "Pit
Stop" in Wind Lake - Thanks Kelly DOC'S
VOLUNTEERS - GREAT JOB
Welders Supply
Company / Pete Mueller Wisconsin
Bingo Supply Photo's
By Nancy Aycock & John Bohn & John Pullen & Rob Bozio TO THOSE UAW VETS WHO
DID MADE IT THERE FOR DOC TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF
VFW POST 8343 WHO WERE THERE HELPING
WMIL FM-106-Country
Radio
Karen-Scott-Radar
Launch broadcasts
week of May 23-30, 2011 - 6-10am Broadcast
Live on Memorial Day from the Todd
Jay Weber
- WISN Radio - Always There For Our Veterans CBS 58 NEWS
- MILWAUKEE CNN NEWS All the
Milwaukee area Radio stations that broadcast the event.
14th Annual Pictures Click on the pictures to enlarge them.....Photos
by Tom Anderson
Dear Doc,
WI's POW/MIA Balloon Launch
What a beautiful site this is!
I haven't even come close to viewing it in it's
entirety, but did view the pictures from the 2010 Balloon preparation and
launch.
Tears (are still) streaming down my cheeks as
I view them.
God Bless you in all your endeavors and especially
with the coming 2011 event.
I want to thank you for your service!
God Bless!
Judy Cherbonneau
Hillsboro, NH
May 19, 2011
10th Anniversary & last POW-MIA Balloon
Launch on Milwaukee's lakefront - 2007 25,000 black balloons were released - largest
ever in the USA
Hi
Jeff Doc Dentice!
From
Jen & the POW-MIA Freedom Fighters
Jeff "Doc" Dentice has put together the longest
running POW/MIA Balloon Launch in POW/MIA Freedom Fighter's history!
Join him for the 15th Anniversary Wisconsin POW/MIA
National Balloon Launch on Memorial Day 2012!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
This
was back in the early days of the POW/MIA Freedom Fighters and we were
trying to come up with any kind of idea to get
folks inspired and keep the flame under the issue. I had heard about
a school that did a balloon launch in memory of Vets and thought we could
do one similar for POW/MIA's. That first year, we got a lot
of flak from the enviromentalist poo-pooing the idea saying the balloons would
hurt the environment and that it killed the sea life and any wild life
that ate the balloons that landed. Some people wanted to let ff
butterflies, others doves, but we felt it just wouldn't send the kind of
message we needed to send for our POW/MIA's.
We
were running a large POW/MIA mailing list at that time with another organization
and discussing all this, when Col. Guy wrote me privately, angrier
than heck. I hadn't known he was gravely ill at this point, but was
hearing the murmurs of this doctor's appt and that. Anyway, he told
me, "To
hell with those idiot environmentalists that care more about the environment
than getting our guys home. We need to shake folks up!" He
had told
me that he felt certain there was a chance that if just 1 (one) balloon
could get to a living POW and give them hope that they were not forgotten
and we
were doing something about it, then anything we could do to make that happen
would be worth it. It was like, this was his last big chance
to be a part
of something that he believed in 100% that could make a difference.
"We're not going to leave them behind, Jen. We're going to let them
know we
are doing something. Don't listen to idiots. Do it. Do
it for all of them that want to come home. Do it for all the families
still waiting for answers." And
I promised him I would. And we did.
We
did research and found out that with the proper kind of balloon we could
keep the environmentalists happy as
these balloons disintergrate at the same rate as a leaf and thus, are biodegradable
and not bad for the environment. We
encouraged putting names of POW/MIA's, or links to
info about them on paper in the balloons, or on the balloons, anything
to inform the public that men and women are still waiting to come home and
families are still waiting for answers. We encouraged folks to let us know
when they found them. Some balloons traveled pretty darn far - one
from New Mexico was found in Maine! We sent out press releases, did
radio talk shows. Had some t.v. coverage.
Our
first few years were huge successes. All over the world POW/MIA Freedom
Fighters Balloon Launches were held. But
as you know, without committed people staying committed, some of the launches
began falling by the wayside.
However, it's a whole other story
for Milwaukee, Wisconsin! With you and your family and
all your friends help and even Milwaukee itself, your launches have most definately
been our greatest success story. "Doc", you stayed stong!
You hung in there. You put together a great team,
got the businesses involved, made it a citywide event. It was wonderful! You
Launch Crew has continued to keep the flame burning, continue to inspire, continue
to remind us all that we have a job to do and it isn't
done until all our men and women are home. When one thinks of the POW/MIA
Freedom Fighters Balloon Launch, they think of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, because
you "Doc" made it happen and put the event in
the chronicles of history!
Lao Hmong Volunteer at Doc's POW-MIA Balloon
Launch
Memorial
Day 2007 Doc
Dentice & Crew launched 25,000 POW-MIA balloons 10th
Anniversary - Wisconsin POW-MIA Balloon Launch Largest
ever in the USA Last
Launch held on Milwaukee's lakefront
10th Anniversary POW-MIA Balloon
Launch Milwaukee's Lakefront - Memorial Day 25,000 balloons released - Largest POW-MIA
launch ever to take place anywhere!
WHEN ONE AMERICAN IS NOT
WORTH THE EFFORT TO BE FOUND, WE AS AMERICANS HAVE LOST! YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN HONOR AND SACRIFICE America, look into your
heart and ask yourself why. Why do you turn your back
on this "great" nation's lost warriors? How do you think this
nation became so great? They gave to you, what
they no longer have, FREEDOM! How can you continue to
ignore them, year after year? They are your brothers,
who have too long been left alone and forgotten! So, look into YOUR heart,
and ask yourself, WHY? If that were you, what
would you want your country to do?
25,000 Balloons
lifted off at the 10th
Anniversary
Wisconsin
POW-MIA
Balloon Launch X
Largest
and Longest running Launch in the Nation
Memorial
Day 2007
Please convey to the entire Launch
Crew, our strong support for their efforts to call attention to the need
for answers, the principles of accounting
for those who serve our country - past, present and future - and the need to signal those
now serving our strong support for them. Very best wishes, Ann Mills Griffiths Executive Director National League of POW/MIA Families 1005 North Glebe Road, Suite
170 Arlington, VA 22201
We encourage
you to place Doc's link on your webpages, in your e-mails,
everywhere,
to educate others
that
the POW/MIA issue is still very much alive.
http://www.war-veterans.org/Wlaunch.htm
ONE EX-POW FROM VIETNAM
(COL.TED
GUY) HAD
A DREAM AND I AM GRATEFUL
TO HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO MAKE IT A REALITY
FOR HIM.
Jeff
"Doc" Dentice
I HAVE
BEEN BLESSED WITH A GREAT CREW
HERE
IN WISCONSIN, WHO HAVE COME FROM
MANY
STATES TO HELP.
Jeff
"Doc" Dentice
(Founder)
Wisconsin POW-MIA Balloon Launch
Coordinator
POW-MIA FREEDOM FIGHTERS
The Milwaukee, Wisconsin POW/MIA Balloon Launch
was exactly what
Col. Ted Guy, former (POW-MIA) had in mind when
he wanted this project done.
He is gone now, but you have made his dream become
a reality.
It gives me goosebumps looking at the pictures
and thinking of what these wonderful people have
accomplished in honor of our POW/MIA's!
Thank you "Doc" and Your Milwaukee
Crew!
Jen
Hi Doc,
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication
and keeping this event going.
To: Jeff Doc Dentice
Dear Doc,
Ex-POW Col. Ted Guy,
back in 1998 came up with the
idea of getting communities to do a POW/MIA Balloon
Launch,
With the help of of your
team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this
event has been one of our most successful in
reaching folks about the
issue and helping to keep the issue alive.
On behalf of the Executive Board and Membership
of the
POW/MIA Freedom Fighters, we would like to
present you "Doc" & Your Crew,with this Special
Recognition Award for
Exceptional and Continual Service Above and Beyond
on Behalf of our POW/MIA's.
Thanks to all of you that made this happen, the
Milwaukee,
Wisconsin POW/MIA Balloon Launch has
been one of our oldest POW/MIA events, having
participated
since day one in 1998, and has become
our Nations Largest Launch, reaching folks
that never knew about the issue.
This award is not given lightly. In fact, as a
member of the
POW/MIA Freedom Fighters
you and your crew, are our very
First Recipients.
"FREEDOM IS NOT FREE"
THIS EAGLE WILL NEVER FLY FREE
UNTIL
ALL OUR POW-MIAS ARE ARE
BACK HOME!
1st ever Wisconsin POW-MIA Balloon launch
in 1988 at Wood National VA Cemetery
Doc
Thanks so much for the awareness
you bring to our effort
It is greatly appreciated by those
of us still working hard for answers.
Please give my very best wishes
to your POW-MIA Launch Crew
Sincerely,
Ann Mills Griffiths
Executive Director
National League of POW/MIA Families
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