News-Info-Alerts

Re: Missing and Families Pay For Freedom

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: September 21, 2003

"Missing and families pay for freedom


The faces of missing children on posters never cease to be disturbing. If there were a poster for every missing member of the U.S. military from the nation's modern wars and conflicts, the result would be no less disturbing.

The nation observes on the third Friday of every September National POW/MIA Recognition Day. It's significant in that more than 88,000 Americans are still missing from Desert Storm, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the Cold War and World War II.

While many of the missing are likely deceased, the longtime pain for families remains. Just as people struggle with the nightmare of a missing child, these families long to know the wheres, whats, whens and whys pertaining to their loved ones.

In recognition of the missing and our country's commitment not to forget them, organizations such as the Thomas Raysor Summers American Legion Post 4 chapter in Orangeburg has joined with the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office of the U.S. Department of Defense to distribute a poster highlighting the significance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day.


The focus is freedom.

American warriors of yesterday and today, it must not be forgotten, have never failed to answer their nation's call. They have brought to the entire world that concept most often associated with American ideals -- freedom.

It is a precious word. A word with so many meanings, yet a word that clearly means, "This is America!''

The POW/MIA poster reflects on the past and the present. The somber, black POW/MIA flag, a national symbol, is a reminder of those still missing, and of their families who have waited decades for answers.

"You are not forgotten" reminds us that this nation's work is not done. There are those 88,000 reasons to remember.

More than 140,000 Americans since World War I have endured the hardships of captivity as prisoners of war. Their sacrifices, too, must never be forgotten. This nation honors their names, their undying spirit and their memory on this day.

Old Glory, so clear and so proud through the smoke of battle, leads American warriors forward -- toward freedom for oppressed peoples, toward freedom for those who know the word only because it means "America.''

But freedom lies not on the battlefields where our POWs and MIAs have fought. It lies in the hearts of the people of entire nations. It lies in ideals so richly American, and it rests on the shoulders of those who we honor on this special day.

The POW/MIA poster is sent to all U.S. military units around the world, to Veterans Administration hospitals and service centers, and to families of those still missing. Additional copies of the poster can be printed from the Web site http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo

©2003, The Times and Democrat"