Spc. John George Sparks receiving recognition at this week’s Hamilton County Commission meeting.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- A Hamilton County veteran who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War is receiving a special honor.

Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp has declared Friday John George Sparks Day in Hamilton County.

Sparks was a Specialist Sixth Class in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, where he was taken as a Prisoner of War by the North Vietnamese after his plane was shot down in April 19-68.

He ended up in a notorious prison known as the Hanoi Hilton, where many POW’s ended up during that war, and was a POW for five years until his rescue in 1973.

Specialist Sparks says that he hopes that by telling his story, he continues to keep the memory of his fellow so

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