It all started in 2014 on Memorial Day, when a 12 year old Boy Scout (now Eagle Scout) Joshua Katz, was volunteering community service hours at the South Florida National Cemetery.

While handing out water, to those attending the Memorial Day Ceremony (and helping out wherever he could), Joshua noticed a penny on a headstone and wondered what it was there for, but no one knew what it meant, so Joshua took a picture of it.

After the Memorial Day Event was over, Joshua looked up what leaving a coin on a headstone, in a National Cemetery meant and found that each denomination of coin had its own meaning.

* A penny meant that someone had visited the gravesite of the soldier;

* A nickel meant that a soldier had visited the gravesite of a soldier;

* A dime meant that a soldier that served with that soldier had visited their gravesite;

* And a quarter meant that someone whom was present when the soldier passed had visited the soldier.

Disappointed, that he only saw 1 penny on a single headstone (in the whole cemetery), Joshua set out to find a way to recognize every soldier in the cemetery, because their families deserve to know that their soldier has not been forgotten.

Joshua spent his 2014 summer with the daunting task of coming up with a way to recognized all of the soldiers interred at The South Florida National Cemetery. then in the middle of the summer, Joshua came up with the idea of doing it with Boy Scout Patrols.

Once Joshua decided to assign a BSA Patrol to every section of the cemetery, in order to live read the names of every soldier interred and leave a challenge coin for the family members, he started to write a plan for an event.

Then Joshua emailed his plans to the Director of The South Florida National Cemetery (Mr. Kirk Leopard). And Mr. Leopard quickly requested a meeting to further discuss the event.

Joshua, met with Mr. Leopard, to discuss his plans to live read the names of every soldier interred in The South Florida National Cemetery. And Joshua even showed Mr. Leopard a sketched design of the challenge coins that he wanted to leave on each soldiers headstone.

By the end of that meeting the 2 agreed to hold Joshua’s event in support of National POW/MIA Remembrance Day. And for it to take place on the second Saturday of September, to assure that the names would be read and the challenge coins placed by the 3rd Friday of September (National POW/MIA Remembrance Day).

Saturday September 13, 2014, was the date of the Inaugural POW-MIA-OREE Event. The event successfully completed what it set out to accomplish and a movement was borne.

And every day we are honored and thankful to have a way to show our thanks to our Veterans.

With our 5th annual POW-MIA-OREE Event scheduled at the South Florida National Cemetery and our expansion to cover the other National Cemeteries in Florida, Joshua’s goal is to now expand his event even further, to include National Cemeteries in the Sate of Georgia by the end of 2020 to start supporting this event Nationally. One step closer to supporting the “No Soldier Should Ever Be Forgotten™” movement.