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Joint Base Charleston holds POW/MIA Recognition Day memorial

Photo: Joint Base Charleston

By Danielle Seat and Riley Bean | September 18, 2020 at 6:52 AM EDT - Updated September 18 at 7:04 AM

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Joint Base Charleston says they, along with other military installations, will hold ceremonies to honor those who were held captive during war.

Starting Friday morning, the base says there will be three different event held throughout the day recognizing those who returned as well as those who remain missing.

Military personnel say hundreds are expected to run a vigil 5K at midnight while carrying the POW/MIA flag.

Starting at 6:30 a.m., base officials say they will begin to read the names of the 81,900 Americans who are still missing. Military personal say they will take turns reading the names and each reader will take turns going down the list for 10 minutes. They say they expect this reading to last until 4 p.m..

Master Sargent Robert Niter says they are expecting several groups to attend the event, including members of the JB Charleston Fire Department, the First Command and more.

“We’ve engaged with the folks off base, like the Veterans of Foreign Warfare,” Niter said. “So they are going to be coming to the base as well. They’re going to be coming with their motorcycles and things like that, have the POW/MIA flag. Some of them will probably have those vests with their cruisers bikes and stuff too.”

Niter said the day will end with a retreat ceremony, and a family member of an MIA person will also speak. He continued saying everyone at Joint Base Charleston came together for this event to honor all MIA and POW persons.

“There’s about roughly 300 million American that get to be safe inside their homes and things like that too. They get to go out and, you know, enjoy those different rights that we have as civilians. And it’s because of those members that served before us,” Niter said.

In order to attend the events, Niter said you do have to be sponsored by someone on the base.

(POW is an abbreviation for “Prisoner of War” and MIA stand for “Missing in Action”)

Copyright 2020 WCSC. All rights reserved.


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