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National POW/MIA Recognition Day on Sept. 16
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Posted on Sep 12 2005
The Veterans of Foreign Wars would like to remind everyone that the third Friday in September is National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
VFW Saipan Post 3457 commander Barry Hirshbein said this day honors the commitments and sacrifices made by the nation’s prisoners-of-war and those who are still missing in action.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one of the six days specified by law on which the black POW/MIA flag is flown over federal facilities and cemeteries, post offices, and military installations.
“Today there are 88,000 Americans listed as missing and unaccounted-for from our nation’s wars,” Hirshbein said.
He said that World War II saw more than 130,000 Americans taken as prisoners of war and lists more than 78,000 Americans as missing in action. In Korea more that 7,100 were taken captive and more than 8,100 continue to be listed as missing-in-action. In Vietnam almost 800 POWs were taken and more than 2,500 were listed as missing, but that number is now nearing 1,800 due to search and recovery efforts by the U.S. government.
“On this day, we pause to remember their sacrifices and the sacrifices that the families of the missing continue to give,” Hirshbein said.
VFW Saipan Post 3457 will conduct a commemoration ceremony on Friday, Sept. 16, 6pm at the Post’s home located in the old California Hotel building along Beach Road. The public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
“May God bless our former prisoners-of-war. May God bless the memory of the missing and their families. May God keep our men and women in uniform safe and their families strong. And may God continue to bless the United States of America,” Hirshbein said. (PR)
