Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / Presidential Documents 52387 

Proclamation 10259 of September 16, 2021 

National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2021 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

When service members take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United 

States, they do so knowing that they may be called upon to make great 

sacrifices to ensure and sustain our shared values. These patriots accept 

those risks and rush to fulfill the mission, no matter how harsh or dangerous 

the conditions. They embody the best of the American spirit. For the families 

and friends who wait at home, anxious for news of their loved ones, these 

sacrifices can cause great pain. For the families of the more than 81,600 

service members who remain missing in action—the pain and grief is compounded by a lack of closure, and the hope that their sons and daughters, 

sisters and brothers, parents, and grandparents will one day return home. 

On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we remember the debt we owe 

to them and to their families. We pay tribute to our former prisoners of 

war and recommit to the difficult but essential task of seeking out answers 

for the families of those still missing. We will always remember and honor 

our Nation’s prisoners of war and those still missing in action, and keep 

faith with our promise as a Nation to bring all of our heroes home. 

Every day, the iconic black and white flag—a powerful symbol in recognition 

of the heroism and sacrifice of American POWs and MIAs—is flown above 

the White House. It is a mark of reverence and of solidarity with all those 

who await answers. Each day, this flag flies over memorials and cemeteries, 

on military installations, at local post offices, and on the front lawns of 

homes across the Nation. This flag remains a symbol of America’s commitment to honor the sacrifices of all those who serve. 

My Administration is committed to recovering and identifying Americans 

missing from prior conflicts. Our efforts are global, and we are thankful 

for the continued cooperation of all partner nations who advance these 

humanitarian efforts on behalf of American families. Loss and grief are 

hard enough without the added and too often prolonged pain of uncertainty. 

But this much is certain: the United States will never abandon the search 

for our service members missing and unaccounted for in overseas wars. 

They will never be forgotten. 

During National POW/MIA Recognition Day, our Nation conveys eternal 

gratitude to those who endured enemy captivity and those who made the 

supreme sacrifice and have yet to return home. We will stand with these 

heroes, who gave their all to protect and preserve our freedoms, and their 

families, who have kept the faith and longingly pursued answers across 

these many decades. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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 17, 2021, 

as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Along with my fellow Americans, 

I salute our former POWs who overcame unspeakable indignities to return 

home with honor. For those who made the ultimate sacrifice and never 

came home, America will work tirelessly to provide their families and 

our Nation the fullest possible measure of accounting. I urge all Americans 


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52388 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 180 / Tuesday, September 21, 2021 / Presidential Documents 

to observe this day of honor and remembrance with appropriate ceremonies 

and activities. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day 

of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of 

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

forty-sixth. 

[FR Doc. 2021–20507 

Filed 9–20–21; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F1–P 


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