Hill AFB hosts POW/MIA Day ceremony

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Hill Air Force Base will be honoring individuals who have been declared prisoners of war or missing in action with a POW/MIA Day reveille formation and ceremony at Hill Memorial Park.

The ceremony, which begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, will include a prayer and proclamation reading by Lt. Col. Carl Wright, 75th Air Base Wing chaplain.

Immediately following the ceremony, four-man teams will be standing "watch" at the park throughout the day, reading names of individuals who have been prisoners of war or missing in action.

Observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans' facilities, according to a news release from the base.

This observance is one of six days throughout the year that Congress has mandated the flying of the National League of Families' POW/MIA flag. The others are Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day.

The flag is to be flown at major military installations, national cemeteries, all post offices, VA medical facilities, the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the official offices of the secretaries of state, defense and veterans affairs, the director of the selective-service system and the White House.