How Many Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Servicemembers Are There?
The United States does everything it can to account for prisoners of war (POW) and missing in action (MIA) servicemembers that have served in the United States military. More than 88,000 servicemembers, from World War II to the Iraq War, remain missing. Two organizations are responsible to help account for those that have not returned to their families:
- The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is a task force whose mission is to account for all U.S. POW and MIA servicemembers from all past wars. Their specialists conduct field investigations and analyze wartime records and archives in support of their mission. They recover and identify remains of missing servicemembers.
- The Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) provides centralized management of POW/MIA personnel affairs. It is responsible for the oversight of policies on U.S. servicemembers who are isolated, captured, detained or otherwise missing in a hostile environment. They help JPAC investigate and organize recovery missions. They also act as a contact point with POW/MIA families.
National POW/MIA Recognition Day (September 18 in 2009) honors the commitments and the sacrifices made by prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action. It is one of the six days (the others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day , Flag Day , Independence Day and Veterans Day ) specified by law on which the black POW/MIA flag shall be flown over federal facilities and cemeteries, post offices and military installations.