OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- Team Osan commemorated our nation’s prisoners of war and those missing in action during a POW/MIA Memorial ceremony on base, Sept. 16, 2020.

Indebted to these heroes’ protection of our freedoms and way of life, participants laid engraved bricks in their honor.

“Each year, on the third Friday in September, our nation commemorates National POW/MIA Recognition Day,” said Kelly McKeague, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Director. “In doing so, we pay particular tribute to those courageous service members and federal civilians who were imprisoned after they answered the call to duty. In facing inconceivable hardships and extreme suffering, they persevered with inordinate faith and resilience to return home with honor.”

Congress first officially recognized POW/MIA Recognition Day in 1979, but the family members of those POW/MIAs were honoring their sacrifice years before.

“The day also raises awareness of the tens of thousands of heroes who answered the call to duty, and tragically have yet to return home,” McKeague added. “From World War II through Operation Iraqi Freedom, they number over 81,000. They made the supreme sacrifice for their nation, but their families are burdened with both the grief of their loss and the inherent uncertainty.”

Currently, there are 81,000 Americans unaccounted for from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars, and recent conflicts, with 75 percent of those gone missing (41,000) somewhere in the Pacific and assumed lost at sea.

“507 American remains from the Korean War have been identified and accounted for since 1982,” said Col. John Gonzales, 51st Fighter Wing commander. "In June of this year, six American remains from the Korean War were repatriated at Osan. These continued efforts to find our fellow Americans further solidify our commitment to bringing them home."