Pentagon’s POW/MIA Corridor Dedicated

Michele Flournoy, under secretary of defense for policy, dedicated a new Pentagon display today honoring POWs and MIAs from all conflicts.

The corridor, located on the 3rd floor, has been added to the Pentagon’s public tour route where thousands of visitors and more than 23,000 Pentagon employees may view it.

In her dedication remarks, Flournoy noted that the displays in the corridor send many messages, and urged visitors and employees to pause and learn more about POW/MIA history, and of those Americans who are still missing from all conflicts.

 “America is among a handful of nations committed to finding and bringing home those lost on former battlefields or isolated burial sites,” she said.  “There is no question that the lessons of past conflicts have helped us improve our ability to recover personnel who become isolated or missing in today’s conflicts - and I hope this provides some small comfort to those of you who lost family members in past wars.”

The ceremony was attended by invited guests including veterans, families of the missing, and former POWs.  In addition to panels depicting many aspects of the American POW/MIA experience, display cases include artifacts obtained during excavations for wartime remains, as well as POW memorabilia, and examples of grass roots efforts by MIA families to draw national attention to the issue.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1420.