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Friday, September 19, 2014

National POW/MIA Recognition Day

2014 National POW/MIA Recognition Day poster. Available from Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

The third Friday in September is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Prisoners of war and missing Americans are honored on this day. The first POW/MIA Recognition Day was observed on July 18, 1979, after President Jimmy Carter issued Proclamation 4664 on June 4, 1979. Until 1995, National POW/MIA Recognition Day legislation was introduced every year. Since then, a presidential proclamation has been signed annually. Commemorative posters are printed by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office. Ceremonies are held throughout the country and at military installations around the world.

My 3rd-great-grandfather's brother John G. Gatlin was a prisoner of war at Rock Island Barracks in Rock Island, Illinois during the Civil War.

References
National POW/MIA Recognition Day
Presidential Proclamation --- National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2014
Recognition Day – Background

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