Honoring a Midlands war hero

Jack Van Loan served as executive director of Columbia’s Five Points Association for more than 20 years. Before that, he spent six years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war, then more time in the military before retiring as director of operations for the 9th Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base.

Friday, Five Points unveiled its Centennial Plaza and a tribute to Van Loan: a statue of him based on a photo taken moments after he was released as a POW.