Friends and neighbors,
More than 40 million Americans have fought for this country since the American Revolution. Most of these brave men and women returned home, but too many did not. In fact, there are still 1,594 Vietnam Veterans missing and unaccounted for – including 33 from Minnesota. There are thousands more from World War II, from Korea, and from the Gulf conflicts.
On the third Friday of September each year, we observe POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor those heroes. Even today, more than 40 years after the end of the war, we are working as hard as ever to bring home every last prisoner; to recover the remains of every last serviceman who died. The National League of POW/MIA families has been a tireless advocate, and they will not rest until their mission is complete.
POW/MIA Recognition Day is not a day of remembrance or a day of memorialization; it is a day of hope – hope that one day we will be able to account for every last missing American military service member. That day will not be today, but I pray that it will happen within my lifetime.