THE WALL OF FACES

Just read about you in ' Going Downtown ' by Jack Broughton. His description of your last sighting is haunting. I did further research on you and found what an amazing person you were. You gave the ultimate sacrifice while the USAF and US Govt actions were disgraceful regarding the pilots at the tip of the spear. May you RIP. May God bless and help your family.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. The many remembrances from your daughter Tara are moving and reflect her eternal love for you. It remains my fervent hope you will be returned home after the passage of so many years.

Never Forget.

HOOAH

Dear Col. John O'Grady, Thank you for your service as a Tactical Aircraft Pilot, and for graduating from Annapolis. You are still MIA. Please come home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Presidents’, and Valentine’s Days just passed. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Be at peace.

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in commemoration of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,586 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Director (Maj. Gen, USAFR, ret) Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also recorded a separate video message to Gold Star MIA families. Additionally, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) produced a “virtual” event on 18 Sep. Since the 2019 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 1 Vietnam War MIA. Colonel John Francis O'Grady, USNA Class of 1952, USAF, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 5 graduates from his U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class who is still MIA. The other 4 USNA Class of 1952 MIAs are: (1) CAPT Donald Aldern; (2) Maj. Joseph Bower, USAF; (3) CAPT John Ellison; & (4) Col. Charles Read, USAF. As of the date of this ceremony, there are 55 USNA graduates still MIA in Southeast Asia (SEA) from the Vietnam War. They account for 32% of the 169 men from Annapolis who made the ultimate sacrifice in SEA during the Vietnam War.

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Pentagon ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766486/defense-officials-recognize-prisoners-war-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Hickam AFB ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766491/admiral-commemorates-prisoners-war-and-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to DPAA Director McKeague’s video statement:
https://vimeo.com/454474340

This is the link to the VVMF virtual remembrance: https://www.vvmf.org/POWMIA-2020/