Editor,

This coming Friday, September 17, 2021, the third Friday in September, is POW/MIA Day. This day is set aside to remind us all that service men and women, be they Prisoners of War or those Missing in Action, that they are not forgotten. Mary Huff in 1971 during the Vietnam War wanted a flag made to bring to our consciousness the POW and MIA service members. World War II pilot Newt Herstay designed the flag we have today. It is the only flag flown below Old Glory at the White House.

On Veterans Day we recognize those who serve to protect our nation and our freedom. On Memorial Day we observe the heavy price paid to secure that freedom. On POW/MIA Day we come to grips with the agony service members experience being held in a prison cell. There is also the grief born by families that know not what has happened to their loved ones.

The magnitude is as follows:

World War II 130,201 POW 73,515 MIA*

Korea 7,140 POW 7,841 MIA

Vietnam 725 POW 1,619 MIA

Cold War 125 MIA

Gulf War 37 POW

(Data from Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

*On a personal note, I had two brothers who served in World War II. One came home to a wife and son. The other was missing in action in the Philippines on November 9, 1944. I was seven and saw my mother and father weep for the first time. His wife and daughter never saw him come home.

There are many good stories about the recovery of the missing. I share only one. This year 41 missing in Korea were brought home to their families to be laid to rest in Arlington or a cemetery of the families' choosing.

Morris McFarland, Plains