April 9th, 2021
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day was established to honor the POWs who have had to endure terrible conditions far away from their loved ones. Since the Revolutionary War, over half a million service members have been captured. This number does not reflect those lost or never recovered. April 9th was chosen because it marks the day in 1942 when the largest number of U.S. Forces were captured by Japanese troops in the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines. After surviving extreme conditions, the captured troops were forced to march 65 miles to the prison camp.
Source: militarybenefits.info/former-pow-day/
Local communities can honor former POWs by helping to organize events in town or highlighting service members in the newspaper with biographies.
