Bracelets Offer Show Of Support To POWs, MIAs

A North Carolina company is taking orders and shipping out hundreds of POW/MIA bracelets.

The

U.S. Veteran Dispatch

in Kinston has already taken 400 orders. The idea of wearing bracelets in memory of POWs and MIAs has been around since the Vietnam War, and has resurfaced with the war in Iraq.

The stainless steel bracelets are marked with the names of soldiers The names on them are that new, the dates that recent.

Jan Barwick is filling orders and sending bracelets to people all over the country who will wrap these names around their wrist.

"You have a bond with them, there's no question about that," she said. "You relate to them and their family and their life and the things they're missing in their life -- a father that won't see his children grow up if he doesn't come home."

The war is deja vu for Ted Sampley, who did two tours in Vietnam.

"I've often thought 'What would happen if Ted Sampley had been captured or something else had happened?' If I was wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy and no one knew it? Would there be somebody back home with a bracelet with my name on it saying 'Where is Ted? What happened to Ted?'" Sampley said. "We're not going to let these men be forgotten if we can help it."

"Just knowing that other people care makes so much of a difference," Barwick said. "The best thing that can happen is for these bracelets to be sent to this person when they come home. We can't forget them. We have to make sure they come home."

To order a bracelet, call the U.S. Veteran Dispatch at (252) 527-0442. They can also be

ordered online

.

The bracelets cost $15, which includes shipping and handling.