All those who fought and served their country when they received
the call, were men and women of courage, judgment, integrity and
dedication. Where does dedication end? You can never put an end to
dedication. After all, those who remain Prisoners of War or are still
Missing in Action are still serving with never ending dedication. For
them, it can never be over. For us, we can never let their sacrifices,
or them, be forgotten.
We will not rest until we achieve the fullest possible accounting of all missing American military service members from all wars.
The numbers of unaccounted-for personnel are staggering, currently 83,000, and the length of time since they have been lost is extensive, going back to World War II. Many will never be recovered because the loss occurred over deep water, were due to catastrophic explosions, or eyewitnesses to the incidents have long since passed, but every new identification helps bring closure to one more American family, and is one step closer to achieving the fullest possible accounting of our missing. It is also a re-commitment to those serving in uniform today that America will bring you home.
We encourage the U.S. government to continue its POW/MIA accounting efforts, and we are directly engaged with other nations and their veterans’ groups to urge their cooperation and assistance to obtain information about missing Americans. VFW national officers make annual trips to Pacific, Asian and European countries where they always meet with senior host-country officials to stress the importance of conducting investigation and recovery operations, as well as gaining access to documents and archival research facilities.
The VFW is the only veterans’ organization to return to Southeast Asia every year since 1991, to Russia since 2004, and now into China for nearly a decade. The VFW opens doors on a vet-to-vet level that makes us the envy of U.S. government politicians and bureaucrats who must follow a strict protocol.
The VFW's Action Corps weekly e-newsletter lists returned MIAs once their names are posted on the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's website
POW/MIA Brochure
NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY, SEPTEMBER 21.
Posts should conduct an appropriate ceremony. Information on conducting a ceremony can be found in the current VFW Manual of Procedure. For POW/MIA merchandise, click http://www.vfwstore.org/category/memorial/pow-mia.
POW/MIA FLAG -- OFFICIAL DISPLAY DAYS.
Public Law 105-85 (November 16, 1997) indicates the days that federal agencies, military installations and U.S. post offices are required to display the POW/MIA flag. The days are: