POW/MIA Recognition Day Sept. 20
September 19, 2019
Friday, September 20th is 2019 National POW/MIA Recognition Day. POW stands for Prisoner of War and MIA stands for Missing in Action.
"You Are Not Forgotten" that's the central phrase behind the POW/MIA remembrance movement which honors America's prisoners of war, those who are still missing in action and their families. The day is in support for Americans who are missing and unaccounted-for in wartime. Americas POW/MIAs can be honored and recognized, but not memorialized. The focus is on sustaining commitment to account for them as fully as possible and to support their families.
POW/MIA Recognition Day is commemorated on the third Friday of every September, a date that's not associated with any particular war. In 1979, Congress and the president passed resolutions making it official after the families of the more than 2,500 Vietnam War POW/MIAs pushed for full accountability. The point of POW/MIA Recognition Day is to ensure that American remembers to stand behind those who serve and to make sure we do everything we can to account for those who have never returned.
According to an article on military.com, a Congressional Research Service report on POWs reports:
130,201 World War II service members were imprisoned; 14,072 them died
7,140 Korean War service members were imprisoned; 2,701 of them died
725 Vietnam War service members were imprisoned; 64 of them died
37 service members were imprisoned during conflicts since 1991, including both Gulf wars; none are still in captivity
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) reports that 83,114 Americans who fought in those wars are still missing, including:
73,515 from World War II (an approximate number due to limited or conflicting data)
7,841 from the Korean War
1,626 from Vietnam
126 from the Cold War
6 from conflicts since 1991
The DPAA said about 75 percent of those missing Americans are somewhere in the Asia-Pacific. More than 41,000 have been presumed lost at sea.
Across the country, local POW/MIA ceremonies are encouraged throughout POW/MIA Recognition Week in September. The week culminates this year with a national ceremony in Washington, DC, on Recognition Day, September 20th, 2019.
There will be special gathering for National POW/MIA Recognition Day on Friday, September 20th in Pinedale. Veterans will be at the Pinedale Library with an information table in the main entry during the day from 10AM to 5PM. Later, at 6:30PM, there will be a POW/MIA Ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in the American Legion Park.
The sacrifice of U.S. military personnel should never be forgotten. All POW/MIA families, and the community, are invited and encouraged to attend their local area POW/MIA recognition ceremonies.
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