Flags will fly Friday in honor of American prisoners of war and those missing in action.
POW/MIA Remembrance Day will take place Friday for the 21st time. The POW/MIA flag will be flown over post offices, military cemeteries and federal buildings, said Alice Kenley, junior vice president of Fulton's VFW auxiliary.
"(Remembrance) is important so people remember that there are still soldiers that have never come or whose remains are still unidentified," Kenley said.
The phrase "You are not forgotten" characterizes the POW/MIA remembrance movement, which honors American prisoners of war, Americans still missing and their families.
Kenley said the total number of Americans taken prisoner or missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and both Gulf wars is more than 83,000. As of July 29, the number of Americans missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War is 1,587. Kenley said 35 Missourians are still considered missing.
In the late 1960s, the wife of a prisoner of the Vietnam War started a movement to ensure the remembrance of those held prisoner or who were missing. This movement evolved into the National League of POW/MIA Families, formally incorporated in May 1970.
The League partnered with a World War II pilot, Newt Heisley, to design a flag to represent America's missing and prisoners of war. The flag features the white silhouette of a gaunt man in front of a guard tower and barbed wire against a black background.
The colors were chosen to represent the sorrow, anxiety and hope felt by the families of these imprisoned or missing Americans. Usage of this symbolic representation was not trademarked or copyrighted in order to promote the greatest visibility.
Other than the official United States flag, the League's POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever to fly over the White House, displayed under the U.S. flag, since 1982.
Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act requires the POW/MIA flag be flown six days each year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day and Veteran's Day. The National Vietnam Veterans, Korean War Veterans and World War II Memorial sites are also now required by law to fly the flag daily.
Kenley said Fulton has not had a tradition of spreading remembrance through any ceremonies or events. She said stainless-steel bracelets can be purchased with the names of missing soldiers to help honor their memory.
"I'm hoping next year the VFW will do something to commemorate the day," Kenley said.