POW/MIA ceremony remembers all, renews promise

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Hayden Hyatt
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  More than 50 Air Commandos paid tribute to captured and missing service members during a Prisoner of War and Missing in Action recognition ceremony at the Airpark at Hurlburt Field Sept. 21.

Congress established National POW/MIA Recognition Day in 1998, and the event is honored at Air Force Bases and civic gatherings throughout the country.

"As long as members of our Armed Forces remain unaccounted for, America will bring our fullest resources to bear in finding them and bringing them home," said President Barack Obama, in a proclamation. "It is a promise we make not only to the families of our captured and our missing, but to all who have worn the uniform."

After an invocation and reading of list of recovered personnel within the past year, ceremony attendees recognized missing and captured service members by pausing for a moment of silence.

"One of the things that really sets us apart as a country is the fact that we do things like this," said Col. Jim Slife, commander of 1st Special Operations Wing. "We have put more resources and, over the years, more people in the search and recovery of injured wounded missing in action and imprisoned servicemembers than any nation ever."

The ceremony concluded with the Hurlburt Field Honor Guard raising the POW/MIA flag along with the American flag, signifying no service member will be forgotten.

"This ceremony is meaningful to me because of that personal commitment to recovering our lost service members, but mostly because it speaks to our values as Americans," Slife said. "I encourage all of us to think about that and to think about what we do here today."