The annual National POW/MIA Recognition Day service will be held in downtown Branson on Friday, September 20, 2024. The V.O.T.O. Honor Guard, guests and speakers will gather in the Autumn Daze main stage area between Regions Bank and the Summit Restaurant at 10 a.m.
Work is still being done to achieve a full accounting of all the 85,000-plus (2,400 from Missouri) U.S. service members, who are imprisoned or unaccounted for as a result of their military service. This day is meant to bring attention to those missing, and their families, some of whom have waited decades for answers.
Special guests will include Navy veterans who were serving onboard the U.S.S. Pueblo on January 28 1968, while the Vietnam War raged and North Korean Commandos had just invaded Seoul. While patrolling 14 miles from the coastline of North Korea, the Pueblo was attacked and captured by an overwhelming show of force from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Technical Research Ship was home to 83 crew members which included civilian oceanographers and Navy personnel whose job it was to intercept communications. One member of the crew died from injuries during the ship’s capture. The rest were interrogated, tortured, starved and detained for 11 months while in North Korean custody.
On May 6, 1990, 22 years after being captured and held until December 23, 1968, the men of the Pueblo were finally awarded the P.O.W. Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon.
The U.S.S. Pueblo, although still property of the U.S. Navy, remains anchored in concrete in North Korea and is used by the North Korean as a Museum at Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, we will remember and pay tribute September 20, at 10 a.m. For further information, call Mary Schantag, P.O.W. Network, 417-336-4232.
Comments