News-Info-Alerts

Re: National POW-MIA Recognition Day

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: September 19, 2002

"POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster Available as Web Download

By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 18, 2002 -- So many people are asking for this year's POW/MIA Recognition Day poster that the fastest, easiest -- perhaps only -- way to get is to download it, according to Larry Greer, spokesman for the POW/Missing Personnel Office.

Greer said the response to the annual poster has been overwhelming. "We're very pleased that so many people like it," he said. "It made a big hit because of its strong colors -- red, white and blue -- and its clean, simple message.

The 2002 POW/MIA Recognition Day poster. (Click photo for screen-resolution image; high-resolution image available.)

"We printed 150,000 posters this year. They went to all military installations and ships at sea worldwide and to veterans' organizations, Veterans Affairs medical facilities and family organizations. We're nearing the end of our supply," he noted.

The poster features an American flag across the top, a troop rappelling from a helicopter in the middle, and the words: "For Flag. For Honor. America's Heroes. National POW/MIA Recognition Day. September 20, 2002."

"The poster depicts a proud America, committed to accounting for its missing in action servicemen and women," Greer said. "While we must seek a full accounting of those missing from previous conflicts, we must also look to the future."

The dominant theme -- the red, white and blue -- symbolizes a history and a dedication that "inspires heroes to carry that banner forward," he said.

Greer pointed out Sept. 20 is a day each American should "pause to honor those who have gone before us, those who never returned and those who today serve on foreign battlefields."

The poster can be downloaded in three sizes of JPEG and TIFF format files at the POW/Missing Personnel Office Web site, http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will host the Sept. 20 Pentagon ceremony for National POW/MIA Recognition Day. The guest speaker will be Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas, who flew combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam wars and was a prisoner of war in Hanoi for nearly seven years. President Bush is expected to issue a proclamation commemorating the observances and reminding the nation of those Americans who have sacrificed so much for their country.

Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitals, schools and veterans facilities. The day is one of six throughout the year that Congress has mandated the flying of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day. "