Vietnam Veterans of America Detroit Chapter 9 Spearheaded the Effort to Create a Permanent Tribute in Lansing
What began as a determined effort to ensure America’s prisoners of war and those still missing in action would have a permanent place of honor in Michigan’s Capitol has become a reality.
A POW/MIA Chair of Honor has now been officially established and placed inside the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, marking the successful culmination of an initiative spearheaded by Vietnam Veterans of America Detroit Chapter 9.
The empty chair carries a message that has defined the POW/MIA mission for generations:
You Are Not Forgotten.
For Chapter 9 and the veterans who worked to make this tribute possible, its placement represents far more than the completion of a project. It is a permanent commitment from the State of Michigan to remember the American service members who became prisoners of war, those who remain missing in action, and the families who have spent decades waiting for answers.
From an Idea to a Permanent Place of Honor
Detroit Chapter 9 championed the effort to bring a POW/MIA Chair of Honor to the Capitol, advocating for a prominent and permanent location within one of Michigan’s most important public buildings.
The campaign gained public attention along the way, including coverage by The Macomb Daily in July 2025 highlighting the push to establish the chair in Lansing.
Today, that effort has succeeded.
The chair now stands inside the Michigan State Capitol as a permanent symbol of remembrance.
It is intentionally empty.
No one will take that seat.
Instead, it represents the American men and women who cannot sit among us—the prisoners of war who endured captivity and the service members who went to war but never returned home.
Why Its Placement in the Capitol Matters
The location carries tremendous significance.
The Michigan State Capitol is where elected officials gather to represent the people of Michigan and where visitors, veterans, families, students and future generations come to experience the history of our state.
Now, among that history, there is a permanent reminder of those who sacrificed for the freedoms that make our government possible.
The chair ensures that POWs and MIAs will be represented inside the Capitol every day—not only on POW/MIA Recognition Day, Memorial Day or Veterans Day.
Every legislative session.
Every official gathering.
Every school tour.
Every visitor who walks past the empty chair will have an opportunity to see it, ask about it and understand what it represents.
Detroit Chapter 9: Carrying the Mission Forward
For Vietnam Veterans of America Detroit Chapter 9, the placement of the chair continues a legacy of more than four decades of veteran advocacy, service and remembrance.
Chapter 9’s history reaches back to 1980, when it was founded as Vietnam Veterans of Michigan before becoming part of Vietnam Veterans of America in 1983 as Michigan’s first VVA chapter.
Its members returned from Vietnam to a country that did not always provide the recognition or welcome they deserved. Rather than allowing that experience to define the next generation of veterans, they made a commitment that has become central to the Vietnam veteran community:
Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.
The POW/MIA Chair of Honor at the Michigan State Capitol carries that same spirit.
Chapter 9 saw something that needed to be done, brought people together around the mission and remained committed until the chair had a permanent home.
More Than an Empty Chair
The chair is a memorial, but it is also a conversation.
A child visiting the Capitol may ask why no one is allowed to sit there.
A veteran may stop for a moment and remember someone who never came home.
A family member may see it and know that their loved one’s sacrifice has not been forgotten.
A legislator walking past it may be reminded that the freedoms represented within the Capitol came at an extraordinary cost.
Those moments are why this chair matters.
The POW/MIA Chair ensures that remembrance is not limited to history books, ceremonies or anniversaries. It becomes part of the daily life of Michigan’s Capitol.
You Are Not Forgotten
The successful placement of the POW/MIA Chair of Honor represents an important milestone for Detroit Chapter 9, Michigan’s veteran community and everyone who believes America has an obligation to remember those who served.
The campaign may have reached its destination, but the mission represented by the chair continues.
As long as American service members remain unaccounted for, there must be a place for them.
In Michigan, they now have one in the People’s House.
Through the leadership and persistence of Vietnam Veterans of America Detroit Chapter 9, the POW/MIA Chair of Honor now stands permanently inside the Michigan State Capitol.
Empty by design.
Powerful in its silence.
And carrying a promise that Michigan will continue to honor:
You Are Not Forgotten.
