WEBVTT

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Good morning and welcome to today's

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ceremony to unveil the 2021 National P .

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O W . M . I . A recognition day poster .

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Today's official party includes the

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Deputy Secretary of Defense , the

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honorable Kathleen Hicks and the

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director of the defense P . O . W . M .

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I . A accounting agency , Mr kelly

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McCague . We are grateful to have a

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former POW here , family members ,

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veteran service organizations and those

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tuning in via livestream joining us

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today . Please join me . Yeah ,

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in the pledge of allegiance ,

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I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

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United States of America and to the

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republic for which it stands . one

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Nation under God indivisible with

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liberty parole .

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Thank you . National P O W .

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M . I . A recognition Day was

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established in 1979 through a

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proclamation signed by president jimmy

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carter . Since then , each subsequent

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president has issued an annual

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proclamation Commemorating the third

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friday in september as national P O W .

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M . I . A recognition day . Since

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1999 The Department of Defense has

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created a poster Commemorating National

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P O W . M . I . A recognition day . The

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2021 edition of the poster continues

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this tradition and we are grateful that

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you are all here to commemorate this

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special moment with us . Today . We

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have gathered to honor and acknowledge

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those that have sacrificed so much for

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our nation and survived harsh captivity

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to return with honor . We are

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especially honored to have retired Air

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Force Colonel Michael Brazleton , a

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former Vietnam war prisoner of war ,

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and his wife , Gloria with us . Today ,

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we have also gathered , unified in our

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belief that every unaccounted for us ,

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service member and civilian from our

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past conflicts should never be

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forgotten . These men and women who

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paid such a heavy price for the cause

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of freedom deserve the fullest possible

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accounting We are honored to have with

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us today , Miss Ann Mills Griffith ,

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chairman of the Board of the National

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League of Families and Family member of

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Navy Commander James Mills who went

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missing in action in 1966 and was

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accounted for in 2018 .

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We are also honored to have guests of

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honor from D . O . D . Leadership . The

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honourable Gina jones , Acting

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Secretary of the Air Force . The

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honourable James Gertz performing the

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duties of the Deputies under Secretary

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of the Navy . We also have

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distinguished visitors from via from

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veteran service organizations . Mr

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Justin heart of the disabled veterans

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of America . Mr WAde , Ishimoto

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of the Special Forces and Special

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Operations associations and MS Rhonda

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Powell of the american legion . It is

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my honor to introduce the director of

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the P . O . W . M . I . A accounting

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agency . Mr Kelly McCague .

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Okay , good morning to all

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distinguished guests . We are deeply

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honored that you're here able to

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participate with us today . Deputy

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Secretary Hicks , thank you again for

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officiating at this important event .

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Whenever enemies of freedom jeopardized

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our liberties , millions of americans

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have answered the call to duty . An

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important subset of these heroes are

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those service members who were

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prisoners of war . Like Colonel

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brazleton in facing inconceivable

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hardships and extreme suffering . They

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persevered with inordinate courage and

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resilience . As Stephen said to return

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home with honor . Another important

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group are the tens of thousands who are

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tragically still missing in action .

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They made the supreme sacrifice for our

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nation , and their families are

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burdened with the grief of their loss ,

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which has been exacerbating exacerbated

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by the inherent uncertainty . America's

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steadfast commitment to its POWs and M .

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I . A . S . Has spanned decades . It is

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manifested no more tangibly and

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profoundly than by the extraordinary

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lengths the Department of Defense takes

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to find , recover and identify the

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remains of its unreturned veterans .

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The work is complex , arduous and often

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involves great risk . It is also a

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humanitarian effort that benefits from

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the cooperation of 46 partner nations

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where fallen Americans still lie . This

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very day . Teams are operating in Laos ,

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great Britain , Germany France , italy

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Austria Poland and Croatia , another

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tangible manifestation of our nation's

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commitment to its P . O . W . S . And M .

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I . A . S , occurs every third friday

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in september with the designation and

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presidential proclamation of national P .

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O . W . M . I . A recognition day

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military installations and federal

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facilities across the globe pause to

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pay tribute to the inordinate

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sacrifices are a former POWs and to the

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last full measure of devotion given by

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our M . I . A . S . The poster to be

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unveiled today serves to further raise

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the nation's consciousness of its

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sacred obligation in which we do to

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fully fulfill the iconic P . O . W . M .

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I . A . Flag that you see throughout

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this hallway stands as a stark reminder

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to all of us You are never forgotten .

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This is not and cannot be an empty and

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treaty . God bless our department and

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nation for not forgetting .

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Thank you Mr McCague . Ladies and

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Gentlemen , the honorable Kathleen

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Hicks serves as the 35th Deputy

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Secretary of Defense , A national

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security leader with a distinguished

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and impactful career , both in

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government and the private sector . Dr

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Hicks earned her PhD in political

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science from the massachusetts

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Institute of Technology madam .

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Secretary .

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Yeah , thank you very much for that

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kind introduction and thank you to Mr

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McCaig for your leadership and for the

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work that your team does . Like

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Secretary Austin said earlier this year ,

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the defense P . O . W . M . I , a

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accounting agency has a more profound

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impact than most americans can imagine .

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And I'd like to especially welcome the

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families who are with us this morning

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as well as the representatives from our

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veterans organizations . You're strong

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and enduring advocacy contributes to

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vigorous pursuit of the P . O . W . M .

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I . A mission here at the Department of

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Defense . I am especially pleased also

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to welcome former Vietnam POW Colonel

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Michael Brazelton from the U . S . Air

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Force , who incredibly spent

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2402 days in captivity . It's

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great to have you here back at the

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pentagon . Since the Revolutionary War ,

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the United States has had more than

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500,000 service members held as POWs

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from World War Two to Operation Iraqi

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Freedom 81,900 U . S .

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personnel remain uncounted for December

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seven of this year . Will mark the 80th

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anniversary of the US entry into World

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War II Today , approximately

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72,000 us personnel remain

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unaccounted for from that conflict On

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this day . In 1953 , 3 years after

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its start , the United Nations Command

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reached an armistice with China and

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North Korea to cease hostilities in the

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Korean War . More than

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7500 Americans remain

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unaccounted for from the Korean War And

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this year marks the 36th anniversary of

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the first US Vietnam joint field

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operation to recover us missing

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personnel . This was an activity that

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predated normalization of relations by

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10 years . More than 1500

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U . S . personnel remain missing from

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the Vietnam War . Make no mistake

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working closely with partner nations .

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The Department of Defense is firmly

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committed to the fullest possible

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accounting for those U . S . Personnel

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who remain missing . We owe nothing

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less to the families who continue to

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wait for answers about the losses of

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their loved ones quoting Vietnam

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veterans of America . National

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President john Roan , the P O W . M . I

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A flag symbolizes our nation's

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commitment to resolving the fates of

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those still listed as prisoner missing

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and unaccounted uh for from all

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conflicts . This administration is

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carrying out the nation's enduring

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commitment to our P . O . W . And M . I .

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A . Sisters and brothers in a number of

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ways . You may recall that in this past

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april on national former prisoner of

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war recognition day , President biden

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restored the P O W . M . I . A flag

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atop the White House And in his March

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four message to the force Secretary

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Austin explained that taking care of

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our people is a top priority of this

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Department of Defense . That includes

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ensuring the Defense POW MIA accounting

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Agency has the resources it needs to

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carry out its vital mission commitment ,

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then , is a fitting theme for this

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year's P . O W . M . I . A poster .

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America's commitment globally fulfilled .

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On september 17th National P O W M I .

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A recognition Day events will take

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place all across the United States and

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that U . S . Facilities around the

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world . It is a time for us to honor

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those U . S . Personnel who were held

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captive and returned as well as those

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who remain missing from past wars and

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their families and the recognition day

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poster that we are about to unveil

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sustains awareness of the sacrifices of

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our P O . W . S and M . I A S . It is

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an homage , a reminder of our

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commitment to the noble mission of full

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accounting of our missing and providing

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answers to their families . I want to

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thank you for joining us today for this

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commemoration . It's a sign of your own

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commitment of our nation's commitment

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to our p O W . S and M I A s . And with

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that I believe we will unveil the

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poster .

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Thank you , Madam , Secretary at this

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time , Colonel Brazelton , Miss and

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Mills Griffith and mr Hart will join

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Deputy Secretary of Defense to unveil

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this year's P O W M I . A recognition

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Day poster .

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No ,

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Yeah ,

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ladies and gentlemen , this concludes

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today's ceremony . Thank you again for

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attending and for your continued

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support of our mission to provide the

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fullest possible accounting of our

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missing and unaccounted for . At this

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time , we would like to ask our other

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guests from the families and veterans

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groups to join the Deputy Secretary for

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a photo with the poster .