Airmen, their families & friends and volunteers from

Airmen, their families & friends and volunteers from Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB) along with members from other military branches participated in a 24-hour torch relay run in remembrance and honor of those who were held captive or are still missing and unaccounted for during times of armed conflict (POW/MIA) on Sept. 20-21, 2018. The ceremony officially began at 9 a.m. on Terminal Island at the Port of San Pedro.
Col. John Claxton, deputy director of the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Global Positioning Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo and Cmdr. William B. Winburn, commanding officer of U.S. Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, helped light the ceremonial torch. The torch was carried by teams of runners across the Vincent Thomas Bridge, across the waterfront in San Pedro, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, and an all-night run carrying the torch around the running track encircling the Schriever Space Complex on LAAFB.
The 24-hour relay culminated with a wreath laying ceremony held at the courtyard on LAAFB in remembrance of those service-members held captive and/or missing in action and unaccounted for during war time. Capt. Michael Telcide, Lead for Space Enterprise Requirement Systems, from the Global Positioning Systems Directorate, was the last participant holding the ceremonial torch. During the ceremony, he laid the ceremonial torch in its final resting spot, along-side a memorial wreath in honor of those never forgotten.
Lt. Gen. John Thompson, Space and Missile Systems commander and Air Force program executive for space, officiated the ceremony along with guest speaker, Mr. Joe Zamperini, son of Louis Zamperini who was a survivor of the Japanese prisoner of war camps during World War II and an Olympic distance runner during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Mr. Zamperini shared the trials and sufferings his father endured during the 47 days he was adrift as sea, his period