Friday, September 15th, is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Townsend VFW Post No. 6538 and its Auxiliary will observe it by conducting a public, Candlelight POW/MIA Ceremony on the Townsend Common that evening beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The purpose of the ceremony is to honor all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action and to remind area residents that we must continue to push for a complete accounting of all those still missing in action.

The thirty-nine Massachusetts residents still unaccounted for in Indochina following the Vietnam Conflict will be especially remembered.

The Townsend VFW Post and its Auxiliary ask all area residents to join them in honoring and remembering all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action by wearing a red ribbon to show your concern for the 1,584 American servicemen and civilians who are still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina following the Vietnam Conflict plus the more than 3,150 World War I POW/MIA’s, the 72,403 World War II POW/MIA’s, the 7,555 Korean Conflict POW/MIA’s, and the POW/MIA’s from the most recent conflicts.

By displaying a red ribbon, wearing a POW/MIA bracelet, or flying a black POW/MIA flag beneath the American flag, citizens show that they will not be satisfied until all Americans being held are released, the fullest possible accounting is made of the missing, and the remains of those who died serving this nation are returned.

VFW Post No. 6538 and its Auxiliary feel that these Americans and their families deserve nothing less.