National POW/MIA Recognition Day

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Service members assigned to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command escort the remains of a fallen service member onto a C-17 Globemaster during a repatriation ceremony, Sept. 24, 2012. (DoD photo by Sgt. 1st Class Adelita C. Mead, U.S. Army)

While our prisoners of war and troops still missing in action are never far from the minds of many, today is the day specifically set aside to remember and honor them.

Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools, and veterans' facilities.  That's according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency -- the agency charged with trying to account for America's missing personnel.

POW/MIA Recognition Day is traditionally observed on the third Friday in September and is one of six days throughout the year that Congress has mandated the flying of the National League of Families' POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, and Veterans Day.

A Pentagon ceremony featuring members of each branch is also held each year on POW/MIA Recognition Day.