The Pentagon honored service members who are prisoners of war or are missing in action in a ceremony on Friday.
Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke during the 30-minute long ceremony, which was held in the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. Friday is National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
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“We’re all here because of a shared commitment. On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we come together as a nation to honor all those who served, all those who are held captive and returned home, and to pay tribute to those who remain unaccounted for and to stand by all of our POW and MIA families,” Austin said. “We know that the missing and the returned are in the hearts of their families and loved ones, today and every day.”
There are more than 81,900 soldiers who remain unaccounted for, with an estimated 38,000 that “may be recoverable,” Austin said, noting that 72,000 of the service members whose remains are unknown are from World War II. This year alone, scientists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency have accounted for 135 U.S. personnel whose remains had previously been unknown, he added.
“Where are they, and when can they come home?” Austin said, reiterating the questions that families who have loved ones who are either prisoners of war or are missing in action often ask themselves. “That’s why we commemorate this special day, to remember the fallen, the captured, and the mission. To remember the families who still wait for them. And to remember our solemn duty to answering those simple questions, and to bringing home those who left these shores so long ago.”
Hyten, in his remarks, referenced the “amazing” employees at the DPAA and praised their dedication to the job, saying they “commit their blood, their sweat, their tears to bringing our fellow Americans home.”
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President Joe Biden issued a proclamation declaring Friday to be National POW/MIA Recognition Day, saying earlier the commemoration is designed to “remember the debt we owe to them and their families” and “We pay tribute to our former prisoners of war and recommit to the difficult but essential task of seeking out answers for the families of those still missing.
