SOUTH HADLEY — A chair of honor representing eight South Hadley veterans who went missing in action during World War II will permanently sit at South Hadley Sports Stadium Complex at the high school, with a Prisoners of War Missing in Action flag flying just below the American flag.

The Select Board approved the initiative at its meeting Tuesday after Brian Willette, national chief of staff for Massachusetts’s Military Order of the Purple Heart, brought forth the proposal on behalf of the South Hadley American Legion Post 260. The chair will be placed and dedicated on Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m., prior to the high school’s football game against Chicapee.

“Their stories are dramatic. They’re from the pages of history,” Willette said. “And for us as organized veterans, we never forget our missing. We honor our fallen and our job is to take care of the families that are left behind. So for us, this chair of honor program is a natural way to express our desire to never forget.”

The chair itself will be donated from Hussey Company in Maine, and the American Legion will cover the $200 shipping cost.

South Hadley’s veterans who are missing in action include Harold Guyon, Robert Martin, Edward Menard, Frederick Nitkiewicz and Walter Schulz. The monument will also pay tribute to three South Hadley High School graduates who went missing in action: Earle Dressell, Edward McGovern and Edmond Oldread.

“Several years ago, we came to find out there are eight (veterans) from South Hadley who remained missing in action,” Willette said. “We learned their names, we have their pictures, and we’ve learned a lot about their stories.”

Willette gave context to the chair of honor by telling the stories of several of the missing in action veterans. He notes that Oldread was lost in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the same day as another South Hadley veteran, Welsey Belaire, who was not missing in action. Oldread was on the same ship as the Sullivan Brothers, twins whose story is the basis for the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”

Willette said Guyon died while on a secret mission to deliver the final pieces of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan a week later.

McGovern was killed in action at Normandy the day before his 32nd birthday, while Nitkiewicz died after World War II ended, recovering bombs out of the Sea of Japan.

The American Legion Post 260, Willette said, is contacting the family members of the missing veterans to invite to the dedication ceremony on Sept. 27, where United States Navy Rear Admiral Jennifer Couture will address the crowd.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.