Warren resident recognized for dedication to POWs

WARREN/TROY — Although Debbie McClain prefers to fly “under the radar” for her volunteer work as president of the Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan, one local group took notice of the compassion and care she gives to the project.

McClain, of Warren, recently received the Daughters of the American Revolution of Michigan’s community service award. She was recognized during the DAR of Michigan’s 124th State Conference held Sept. 12-15 at the Somerset Inn in Troy.

“Debbie has given thousands of hours of selfless service to the POW/MIA community,” DAR State Regent Dawn Brady, of West Branch, said in a prepared statement. “She has done this for 28 years. She is committed to helping families for whom the war never truly ends.”

Brady and McClain first became acquainted when her daughter, Moria Brady, was state president of the Michigan Society Children of the American Revolution and wanted to find a way to support the POW/MIA League of Families.

McClain, 61, said she was “quite surprised” when she received the award. McClain became active with the Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan in 1996 because she knows the feelings of loss when a family member goes missing during wartime. She was just 4 years old when her uncle Roland Pineau’s plane went down on Oct. 8, 1967, during a mission in Vietnam.

“He was my earliest memory,” McClain said. She can still picture the Navy man at 5 feet 6 inches tall standing in his dress flight uniform gazing at her. “That’s what I remember.”

According to the American Battle Monuments Commission website at abmc.gov, Pineau was stationed in South Vietnam when he went missing with other crew members. The radar technician was a member of a Grumman E-1B Tracer electronic surveillance aircraft.

After completing its mission, the plane refueled at Chu Lai, South Vietnam and proceeded to the aircraft carrier. Due to adverse weather, the aircraft crashed into Monkey Mountain near Da Nang. It took 40 years for Pineau’s remains to be found. On Oct. 8, 2007, the military veteran received a funeral with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, not far from Washington, D.C.

“It gave us comfort,” McClain said. “We took off our POW bracelets, about 30 bracelets, and placed them on the casket when he was buried. It was very emotional.”

The Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan is a nonprofit organization that POW/MIA families founded July 17, 1973. The group’s mission is to bring all prisoners of war home, account for those still missing and return all recovered remains. Membership is open to anyone meeting the criteria enforced in the POW Committee bylaws.

Sometimes family members looking for missing loved ones don’t know where to get started. That’s where McClain and other members of the Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan step in and help them on their journey.

“I share information,” McClain said. “Families are really looking for answers.”

The Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan also works in conjunction with the National League of POW-MIA Families and other veterans organizations, including the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, to protect and further the interests, rights and welfare of American POWs and MIAs and their families.

“It’s a passion for me now. I just like to do it. We have people in our community that have had remains identified,” McClain said. “We now have forever friends. They trust us and believe in us.”

And what would her uncle think of all the work she is doing?

“I think he would think it was awesome,” McClain said. “He would think it was great.”

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing America’s future through better education for children.

For more information on the Prisoner of War Committee of Michigan, visit michigan powmia.org/officerspow.html.