Veterans, active service members and civilians come together to remember on POW-MIA Day
DOVER, Del. – The third Friday in September is a solemn day at the Dover Air Force Base and at bases across the nation. A day to reflect on the 82,000 military members classified as either prisoners of war, or missing-in-action.
The guest speaker for the event was Col. Murphy Neal Jones. A Vietnam veteran who was shot down during his third combat tour.
He spent over six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
“We’ve got the mission to identify every single member of our armed forces that’s lost… And that’s why we’re here today, to give hope to the families to push that mission.”
During his address, Jones talked about his time as a POW.
“The north Vietnamese communists did their best to break us. To treat us like animals. Days of torture. Solitary confinement. Beatings.”
The day not only remembers the brave men and women whose fates are still unknown, but also the families, who are left with the question – where are they.
“You can only imagine how the family feels when they’re home wondering if their loved on is still alive,” said Larence Kirby, the executive director of the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs.
Outside of the event in Dover there is plenty more being done to keep the memory alive of those who have yet to be found.
“We make it a point within Delaware and also nationally of not forgetting those who were once prisoners of war, and or missing in action,” said Kirby. “Within Delaware alone, we have 28 POW-MIA chairs that are at various locations.”
And The work continues after the colors are retired, work to find and identify and the remains of every last missing soldier.
“What is our goal. Determine the status of every missing individual that served this great red, white and blue flag of ours,” said Jones.
During the ceremony a list of names were read off of those who were missing and repatriated over the past year.
POW-MIA day is recognized on the third Friday of each September, next year that falls on September 20.
