WHEREAS, more than 217,000 Americans have been confined by adversaries of the United States during the last 100 years, with many enduring brutal and inhumane treatment by their captors in violation of international law; and
WHEREAS, nearly 1,600 Americans are still missing from the Vietnam War, as well as 7,500 unaccounted for from the Korean War, 128 from the Cold War, and over 73,678 from World War II, with thousands unrecoverable and lost in the deep sea; and
WHEREAS, families and friends of these missing Americans, as well as their fellow veterans, endure uncertainty concerning their fate; and
WHEREAS, as a nation founded on the principles of civil rights and justice, we have a moral obligation to continue to make every effort to ascertain the truth about these Americans;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jay Inslee, governor of the state of Washington, do hereby proclaim September 20, 2024, as
POW/MIA Recognition Day
in Washington, and I urge all people in our state to join me in this special observance.
Signed this 26th day of August, 2024
Governor Jay Inslee
