[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 38 (Monday, September 20, 2004)]
[Pages 1993-1994]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7815--National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 2004

September 14, 2004

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Throughout our history, when the enemies of freedom were on the 
march and our country needed brave Americans to take up arms and stop 
their advance, the members of our

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Armed Forces answered the call of duty. These patriotic men and women 
defended our country in hours of need and continue to stand watch for 
freedom. Many of these courageous individuals risked capture, 
imprisonment, and their lives to protect our homeland. On National POW/
MIA Recognition Day, we honor the sacrifices and remarkable 
determination of those captured as prisoners of war. We also remember 
those who remain unaccounted for and ask for God's special blessing on 
their families. Our Nation will not forget these heroes, and we will not 
stop searching for our service members who are missing in action.
    On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, the flag of the National League 
of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is flown 
over the White House, the Capitol, the Departments of State, Defense, 
and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service System Headquarters, the 
National Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veterans Memorials, U.S. 
military installations, national cemeteries, and other locations across 
our country. This flag serves as a reminder of our continued commitment 
to those still missing and those imprisoned while serving in World War 
II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, and other 
conflicts. We remain grateful for their service and sacrifice and pledge 
to continue to achieve the fullest possible accounting for all of our 
men and women in uniform still missing.
    Now, Therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of 
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 14, 2004, as 
National POW/MIA Recognition Day. I call upon the people of the United 
States to join me in saluting all American POWs and those missing in 
action who valiantly served our great country. I call upon Federal, 
State, and local government officials and private organizations to 
observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 
of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
ninth.
                                                George W. Bush

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., September 16, 
2004]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
September 17.