COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- Governor Henry McMaster has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff Friday at all state buildings, grounds, and military installations in South Carolina.
The governor requested flags be lowered in observance of National POW/MIA Recognition Day which is falls each year on the third Friday in September.
Established through a proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, National POW/MIA Recognition Day honors Americans who were prisoners of war and those who served but never returned home.
“Let all who read this know that America remains grateful to our heroes held in the worst imaginable conditions as prisoners of war,” President Joe Biden said in a Sept. 14 proclamation. “Additionally, I encourage my fellow citizens across the Nation to reflect on today and let us not forget those heroes who never returned home from the battlefields around the world or their families who are still waiting for answers.”
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPPA), more than 81,000 Americans remain missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and other conflicts since 1991.
The DPPA indicates at least 840 service members from South Carolina remain unaccounted for from those wars.
“…we honor the bravery and sacrifice of our Prisoners of War and recommit to never forgetting those Missing in Action,” Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Friday. “Let us remember their unwavering dedication to our country and their families’ enduring strength.”
Flags will be flown at half-staff from sunrise until sunset in accordance with Gov. McMaster’s proclamation.
