The Pampa VFW Post 1657 Auxiliary marked POW/MIA Recognition Day on September 18 by standing on the corners of Cuyler and handing out POW/MIA flags. Each flag came with a card explaining what the flag represents and how to display it properly. Auxiliary President Tomi Sieber said the group wants to honor service members who never came home and those held captive, and to keep their families' wait for answers in mind. Auxiliary member David Sieber has donated 100 flags for the event each year for the past five years.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) lists more than 81,600 Americans as still missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the Gulf Wars and other conflicts. According to the agency, 75% of those losses are in the Indo-Pacific, and more than 41,000 of the missing are presumed lost at sea.
A presidential proclamation for the day said the POW/MIA flag is displayed above the White House and at designated federal buildings nationwide. It also noted that DPAA reached its 800th identification of remains from the Korean War.