On Friday, August 10th, 2007, Lt. Col. James Henry Ayres will be laid to rest in Pampa, Texas.

What makes this special and of note are the circumstances behind this. Lt. Col. Ayres was born on June 30, 1937, and was commissioned into the US Air Force on Jan. 25, 1960. on January 3, 1971, his plane went down over Laos during a night time strike.

Last Friday, the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office positively identified the remains of Ayres and Lt. Col. Charles W. Stratton of Dallas. The identification was the result of an ongoing search that began in 2001.

In this world where we hear more bad than good about our soldiers, where the media chastises them day in and day out, let me say welcome home Lt. Col. Ayres. I thank you for your service.