MILWAUKEE — A memorial honoring Air Force Captain Lance P. Sijan, who lost his life during the Vietnam War, has been refurbished and will be rededicated Thursday morning at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.
The memorial features an aircraft, a garden, and a memorial stone with the Captain's portrait.
Since its unveiling in 2017, it had sustained significant wear. With the help of WTMJ Radio, Janine Sijan, the captain's sister, raised over $80,000 to restore the plaza honoring her brother.
Captain Sijan was born and raised in Bay View. While serving in the Air Force, his aircraft was downed, and he ejected over the jungles of Laos. He spent 46 days alone without food trying to reach safety before being captured and tortured. Despite the torture, he never revealed any information to his captors. He later died in the prison camp.
"He represents all who served, all who gave the ultimate, and the gold star families that lost their loved ones," Janine Sijan said.
For decades, Janine has worked to keep her brother's memory alive, focusing on sharing his entire life story, not just his final months.
Janine hopes people will recognize the commonalities they share with Captain Sijan rather than the differences.
"This story is such a marker for the ability for each of us to understand what we can expand to, to a fuller, greater than self position, so my objective was to help the understanding of Lance's story to what you have in common with him, whether than what separates you," she said.
Watch: Vietnam War hero's memorial restored at Milwaukee airport
Andy Bishop, who repainted the aircraft, said this restoration project held special meaning.
"When we heard about Lance and all the stuff he went through and his sister about how she's trying to preserve his memory and everything about the aircraft, it kind of drew us in. We just wanted to be a part of it," Bishop said.
The rededication ceremony will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the memorial plaza at Mitchell International Airport.
This story was reported on-air by Brendyn Jones and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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