On Wednesday, September 18, 2019, VFW Post 5408 hosted the POW/MIA Recognition Dinner. In the lead up to POW/MIA Recognition Day (September 20, 2019), the local community came together with Post 5408, VFW State leadership, and special guests to remember those who went missing in wartime and to support the families of these heroes who remain unaccounted for. To date, nearly 82,000 military service members from foreign conflicts remain missing.

Special guest and long-time leader and advocate at the National League of POW/MIA Families, Jo Anne Shirley, spoke at length about the enduring efforts of various organizations and our government to get our fallen heroes back to their families in the United States. Since November of 1972, the former League chairwoman and her family have worked diligently to get the answers about her brother’s [Air Force Major Bobby M. Jones, M.D.] whereabouts. Major Jones was a flight surgeon sent to Vietnam to help tend to the wounded when the plane he was transported on went down.

The exhaustive efforts of so many families and loved ones continue, seeking to leave no hero behind. With advanced technology, more missing-in-action are being located and returned to their families, but so many hopeful families remain without answers to this day. To learn more about those still missing in action and the efforts that are taking place to reunite families with their lost heroes, go to the National League of POW/MIA Families’ website!