The Association of Graduates’ Heritage Trail features the POW Memorial Sculpture, a solemn tribute located at the entrance of the Southeast Asia Memorial Pavilion. This powerful monument honors the 33 U.S. Air Force Academy graduates who endured captivity as prisoners of war during the Vietnam War.

The sculpture lists each graduate’s name, along with the dates of their imprisonment and, when applicable, their release. Tragically, two of these men — Capt. Lance Sijan, Class of ’65, and Capt. Michael Bosiljevac, Class of ’67 — died while in captivity.

On April 24, 2015, 19 of the surviving POWs, along with family members of the deceased, gathered for the sculpture’s dedication ceremony. The project was spearheaded by Gen. Ron Yates, Class of 1960, and supported financially by his class as well as the Classes of ’63, ’64, ’65 and ’67.

The centerpiece of the memorial is a 2,000-pound bronze plaque titled Honor Bound: A Portrait of Courage, sculpted by Jim Nance, Class of ’71. Nance had a personal connection to the story — he flew one of the C-141 missions that repatriated POWs from Southeast Asia in 1973, and his own father had spent three years as a prisoner of war during World War II.

The sculpture's defiant and resolute figure of a POW was modeled after then-Cadet Joseph Flescher, Class of ’14. Symbolically, the bronze incorporates metal from over 100 donated copper POW bracelets, melted into the final piece — a lasting testament to sacrifice, resilience and remembrance.