Presidential Documents

48355 

Federal Register 

Vol. 74, No. 182 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 8419 of September 17, 2009 

National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2009 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Our Nation maintains a solemn commitment to leave no service member 

behind. Our men and women in uniform uphold this pledge every day, 

and our country further upholds it as we honor every man and woman 

who serves, particularly those taken as prisoners of war or missing in action. 

We will never cease in our mission to bring America’s missing service 

members home; we will never forget the sacrifices they made to keep this 

Nation free; and we will forever honor their memory. On National POW/ 

MIA Recognition Day, we pay tribute to the American men and women 

who have not returned from the battlefield, and we express profound gratitude to those who returned only after facing unimaginable hardship on 

our behalf. Today, we also remember the families of our prisoners of war 

and those missing in action and honor the sacrifices they have made. 

Every day, Americans are working around the world to identify and recover 

the remains of our fallen heroes. It is a promise made, and a promise 

that will be kept. Although their location may be unknown, we will not 

waver in our commitment to see they are reunited with the land they 

so valiantly defended. 

For those veterans who returned home after being declared Missing in Action 

or having been imprisoned by the enemy, we honor their service, their 

sacrifice, and their courage. In distant lands, and under wretched and torturous conditions, these men and women endured. Faced with such tremendous adversity, they embody the power of the human spirit—sustaining 

themselves with hope and faith. 

On September 18, 2009, the stark black and white banner symbolizing America’s Missing in Action and Prisoners of War will be flown over the White 

House, the Capitol, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, 

the Selective Service System Headquarters, the World War II Memorial, 

the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, United 

States post offices, national cemeteries, and other locations across our country. It is a powerful reminder that our Nation will never cease in our 

commitment to honor those who have paid so high a price in its service. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 18, 2009, 

as National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and I urge all Americans to observe 

this day of honor and remembrance with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 


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48356 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 22, 2009 / Presidential Documents 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth 

day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

thirty-fourth. 

[FR Doc. E9–23006 

Filed 9–21–09; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3195–W9–P 


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