Icemen participate in National POW/MIA Recognition Day

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joseph Swafford
  • 354 FW/PA
9/19/2014 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  During the past 24 hours, Icemen participated in National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor those unable to return home.

Annually the third Friday of September each year is observed across the United States as National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor prisoners of war and the missing as well as their families and highlights the government's commitment to account for them.

Icemen observed this day by participating in a 24-hour running vigil where teams of up to 10 people continuously ran with the POW/MIA flag during 30-minute blocks.  The POW/MIA flag in constant motion allowed people on base to take a moment to pause and remember the sacrifices made.

"It was an honor to be able to run and represent those who are missing or captured and their families who can no longer see them," said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Brown with the 354th Civil Engineer Squadron.

More than 83,000 Americans are currently listed as missing and unaccounted-for, dating back to World War II, according to the Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office.  Eielson and the 354th Fighter Wing had 70 POWs during past conflicts, to include three enlisted pilots and the 354th Fighter Wing's first commander, Maj. Kenneth R. Martin, during WWII.

"POW/MIA Recognition Day is a time to honor those who suffered more at the hands of the enemy than most of us could comprehend," said Jack Waid, the 354th Fighter Wing historian. "The captors of our nation's POWs oft times did not speak the same language, did not hold to the same customs, values and the same ideologies.  It was this world that our POWs were thrown into.  The separation from wingmen, friends and family was a mental strain few can imagine."

The 24-hour POW/MIA observance ended with a wing-wide ceremony during which Col. Michael Winkler, the 354th Fighter Wing commander, along with Mr. Steve Huisman, with the Department of Alaska American Legion, and Mr. Chuck Hess, with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10,029, laid a wreath at the POW/MIA monument on base.  

"The day points back to our heritage, points back to remembering, points back to the debt we owe those who came before us," said Master Sgt. Bryan Hinton, the AFSA Chapter 1474 president. "We must keep them in our minds and remember that we are not 100 percent until everyone is home; we will continue to look for them."

Even though the National POW/MIA Recognition Day has ended, the Department of Defense will continue its mission of "No one left behind."

For more information on POW/MIAs and the Department of Defense's efforts to recover them, please visit the Defense Prisoner of War Missing Personnel Office website: http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/.