Proclamation 6002—National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 1989

Freedom is precious because it has been won for America at a very high price. Much of its cost has been borne by the brave and selfless members of our Armed Forces. Few Americans could more fully appreciate the value of liberty and self-government than those servicemen who were captured and imprisoned while defending those ideals. Many of these Americans were subjected to brutal treatment and torture by their captors in violation of fundamental standards of morality and international codes for the treatment of war prisoners. Many never survived.

The courage, faith, and devotion to duty demonstrated by these servicemen who risked their freedom -- indeed, their lives -- for our sake has moved the hearts of all Americans. Our Nation will not forget these heroes and the tremendous sacrifices they made for our country, nor will we forget our obligation to their families. All Americans recognize the profound suffering of those who continue to await word of their loved ones' fate.

The U.S. commitment to securing the release of any U.S. servicemen who may still be held against their will, to obtaining the fullest possible accounting for the missing, and to repatriation of all recoverale American remains, is unshakable. Because this Nationa recognizes the dignity and worth of every individual and the inestimable value of every human life, we will not allow our POWs and MIAs to become lost to us. We shall continue to seek the truth about their fate and to ensure the peace of certainty for their families. The fullest possible accounting for the missing will continue to be a matter of highest priority.

In March, a POW/MIA Flag was raised in the Capitol Rotunda as a symbol of our Nation's concern for those servicemen who remain missing and unaccounted for, and as an expression of our determination to obtain a full and satisfactory accounting for them. That flag shall remain on display there until the POW/MIA issue is thus resolved.

To reaffirm our promise to keep faith with America's missing servicementt and their families, the POW/MIA Flag will be flown over the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service System headquarters, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on September 15, 1989. It will also fly over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

In recognition of the special debt of gratitude all Americans owe to those who sacrificed their freedom in the service of our country, and as an expression of our support for their families, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 129, has designated September 15, 1989, as "National POW/MIA Recognition Day" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 15, 1989, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize that day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fourteenth.

GEORGE BUSH