Proclamation 6334

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Through riveting and often heartrending personal testimony, former American prisoners of war have helped us to appreciate more fully the courage and the sacrifices of those United States military personnel who have been captured by the enemy during periods of armed conflict. During World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and other conflicts, many American prisoners were subjected to brutal treatment and torture by their captors in violation of fundamental standards of morality and international law. Many did not survive. Today, as a measure of our gratitude toward those who have endured so much for our sake and the sake of freedom-loving peoples everywhere, we remember in a special way Americans who remain missing and unaccounted for.

In honor of these Americans, on September 20, 1991, the National League of Families POW/MIA flag will be flown over the White House, the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service System headquarters, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This black and white emblem symbolizes our continued commitment to secure the release of any Americans who may still be held against their will, to obtain the fullest possible accounting for the missing, and to ensure the repatriation of all recoverable American remains.

Our Nation's POWs/MIAs accepted great risks to help defend the lives and liberty of others, and they deserve our faithfulness and resolve in return. We have an obligation to them and to their families, and we will honor it. Indeed, all Americans recognize the lingering anguish of those who await word of their loved ones' fates, and we are determined to help them gain the peace and solace that real answers will bring.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 20, 1991, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. I urge all Americans to join in honoring former American POWs, as well as those U.S. servicemen and civilians who are still missing in action. I also encourage the American people to express their solemn appreciation for the courage and the sacrifices of the families of POWs/MIAs. Finally, I call on State and local officials and private organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

George Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 2:29 p.m., September 12, 1991]