POW/MIA Poster

POW/MIA Poster. Poster provided by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans' facilities. This observance is one of six days 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. The flag is to be flown at major military installations, national cemeteries, all post offices, VA medical facilities, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the official offices of the secretaries of state, defense and veterans affairs, the director of the selective service system and the White House. A full size PDF of this poster can be obtained at the DPMO web site: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/powday/index.htm. To order posters by email, send a message to Outreach@osd.mil. By regular mail send your requests to DPMO, Attn: Posters, 241 18th Street South, Suite 800 Arlington, VA 22202. By phone call 703-699-1131. For all requests, please specify your name, number of posters, mailing address, and telephone number.

Airmen unveil plans for POW/MIA memorial

Airmen 1st Class Rodney Spain, 36th Intelligence Squadron, and Maximilian Zanol, 1st Equipment Maintenance Squadron, unveil the winning design of the future POW/MIA memorial Sept. 21 during the POW/MIA ceremony. The memorial will be built in Memorial Park. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Dawn Duman)

Langley ceremony honors POW/MIAs

Published Sept. 21, 2007
By Airman 1st Class Skylar DeMayo
1st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- Since the first POW/MIA commemoration July 18, 1979, Airmen have shed tears and donated time in memory of prisoners of war and those missing in action; and this year was no exception.

During this year's ceremony, which took place Sept. 21 at Memorial Park, the 1st Fighter Wing unveiled plans for the Langley POW/MIA Memorial.

Prior to the unveiling, Chief Master Sgt. James MacKinley, 1st FW command chief, acknowledged the sacrifices of POWs and MIAs, including 15 veterans from Hampton Roads.

"They are heroes who truly represent the colors of the flag of the United States of America," Chief MacKinley said.

During the service, the attendees paused not only to pay respect to those who have not returned, but also to those extraordinary patriots who endured hardships to defend liberty.

"The POWs still with us today have paved the way for our freedoms and freedoms around the world," said Col. Jeffery Harrigian, 1st FW vice commander. "Their great sacrifices should never be forgotten."

Toward the end of the ceremony, the plans for the POW/MIA memorial were revealed.
"The monument is amazing ... it's an honor," said Wayne Porter, a former POW during World War II and adjutant of the James L. Hale Memorial Chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization.

The memorial's design was selected from several entries as part of a basewide design contest and will be donated by the Air Force Sergeant's Association Chapter 358.

The memorial designers include, Master Sgts. Michael Ream, Gary Mrosko and Kevin Prillman along with Tech. Sgts. Michael Blair and Noel Cole from the 1st Maintenance Group.

To date, there are still 78,000 servicemembers unaccounted for from World War; II, 8,100 from the Korean War and more than 1,800 unaccounted from the Vietnam War.

Fourteen aircrews are still missing from the Cold War Era and one still unaccounted for from the Gulf War. Currently, there are four U.S. servicemembers unaccounted for in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"In the words of President George W. Bush, 'Today, we should all take inspiration from their [POW/MIAs] valor and loyalty and [we] will not rest until we have accounted for them all,'" Colonel Harrigian said.