FEW THINGS ANGER ME MORE THAN WHEN A YOUNG PERSON, A HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE-AGE PERSON, LOOKS AT MY PATCHES OR FLAGS AND SAYS TO ME "WHAT DOES POW-MEEYA MEAN? (PRONOUNCED POW!, AS IN A COMIC-BOOK PUNCH, AND MIA AS IN MIA FARROW.)
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS THAT YOUR TAXES FUND ARE NOT TEACHING HISTORY - AND ESPECIALLY NOT RECENT HISTORY. THEY ARE TOO BUSY TEACHING "CONFLICT RESOLUTION," THE GLORIES OF RECYCLING AND THE EEEVILS OF GLOBAL WARMING TO TEACH HISTORY, MATH AND READING. MOST KIDS TODAY ARE ONLY VAGUELY AWARE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN VIETNAM - WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR SOLDIERS, THE PRISONERS OF WAR, AND TO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SLAUGHTERED LIKE CATTLE WHEN THE UNITED STATES PULLED OUT BEFORE THE JOB WAS DONE. MOST KIDS TODAY ARE UTTERLY UNAWARE THAT THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SONS, DAUGHTERS, FATHERS REMAIN UNACCOUNTED FOR FROM THE WARS THAT HAVE KEPT OUR NATION FREE.
SPECIFICALLY, THE NUMBERS OF THOSE HEROS UNACCOUNTED FOR ARE:
WWII: OVER 78,OOO
KOREA: OVER 8,100
VIETNAM: OVER 1,800
COLD WAR: 126
GULF WAR I: 1
GULF WAR II: 3
THE FLAG
Only one flag besides the Stars and Stripes has ever flown over the White House in Washington, DC. Only one flag is ever displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. That flag is the POW/MIA Flag.
The design for the MIA/POW flag was never copyrighted. It became a flag that belongs to everyone, a design that hauntingly reminds us of those we dare not ever forget. Behind the black and white silhouette is a face we can't see...the face of a husband, a father, or a son who has paid with their freedom, for our freedom. Beneath the image are the words...
You Are Not Forgotten
DISPLAYING THE FLAG
Congress has set aside the THIRD FRIDAY of September in each year as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. It is a time to remember those who never came home. Congress has further recognized the POW/MIA flag of the National League of Families as the official flag to represent our missing soldiers. This flag is to be flown over:
- The Capitol and the White House in Washington, DC,
- The Korean War and Vietnam Veterans War Memorials,
- Every National cemetery,
- Any building containing the official offices of the Secretary of State
- The offices of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
- The offices of the Director of the Selective Service System,
- Every major military installation,
- Every VA Medical Center, and
- Every Post Office.
The POW/MIA flag is displayed daily in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol Building, and should be flown at all VA Medical facilities on any day the National colors are displayed. In addition to POW/MIA Recognition Day, the flag should be displayed at all the above locations on:
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