Contact: Maridith Geuder
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Monday [March 26] White House visit with President Bush is part of ongoing efforts by Mississippi State University President Robert H. "Doc" Foglesong to help determine the fate of missing U.S. servicemen.
Foglesong and Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, his co-chair of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, met with President Bush during the morning. Shamanov also is assistant Russian defense minister.
A four-star general who retired from the U.S. Air Force last year, Foglesong was appointed to the commission by the president last April. He and his Russian counterpart have been collaborating to further common humanitarian goals in accounting for both nations' missing servicemen.
"This meeting was important in emphasizing the U.S. commitment to our work on behalf of missing American servicemen and their families," Foglesong said. President Bush has been a strong supporter of the effort to locate those missing as a result of conflicts beginning with World War II and continuing through the Cold War, he added.
As a follow-up to the Washington visit, Shamanov will be Foglesong's guest Thursday [March 29] when he speaks to students in Mississippi State's Shackouls Honors College.
"We are working to broaden our students' exposure to global issues, and Gen. Shamanov will have a chance to interact with some outstanding young men and women," Foglesong said.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: You are invited to join the honors college students at 2 p.m. in the Forum Room of Bryce Griffis Residence Hall.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.