[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 139 (Monday, September 9, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5875-S5876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY

  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I join in acknowledging National POW/MIA 
Recognition Day this September 20, 2024, in heartfelt memory of Idaho's 
and all of America's prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action 
(MIA).
  In August, Idaho welcomed home Lieutenant Allan Wesley Knepper. He 
was finally laid to rest at home in Lewiston, ID, on August 2, 2024, 
after making the ultimate sacrifice in service to our great Nation 
during World War II. The airplane he was piloting was shot down on July 
10, 1943, and he was listed as MIA for decades. He was brought home 
because of the love and respect of his family and people who knew him 
and many others who worked together to share information, find him, and 
return him home. This included the diligent research of his friend's 
son and work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) the Agency 
primarily responsible for recovering America's servicemembers.
  Lieutenant Knepper's return and the steady return of other veterans 
across our country is encouraging as they show what can be achieved 
when relatives, friends, and investigators are able to share knowledge 
and work together. That is one of the reasons I continue to press for 
the enactment of the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, which I joined Senator 
Jeanne Shaheen, in re-introducing this Congress. This legislation would 
help eliminate obstacles preventing families and caseworkers from 
accessing the records needed for recovering America's POWs and MIA.
  Thank you to the POW/MIA families and veterans who keep the pursuit 
of facts at the forefront of our national conscience. I commend the 
individuals and groups, such as the POW*MIA Awareness Rally Corp. of 
Pocatello, ID, and across our country who keep a steady spotlight where 
it needs to be, on pressing forward until every American servicemember 
is brought home.
  Idahoan Lieutenant Knepper's service and return were highlighted at 
the June unveiling of the DPAA's 2024 POW/MIA Recognition Day Poster. 
This year's poster features the words ``Honoring their sacrifice. 
Earnestly searching for those still missing.'' In honor of their 
sacrifice and POW/MIA Recognition Day and with a heavy but hopeful 
heart, I join our grateful country in praying for all those who await 
answers about lost servicemembers and thanking America's 
servicemembers,

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 veterans, and their families for their extraordinary commitment to our 
country. May our country continue to earnestly search for those still 
missing until they are all at last returned home.

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