Veterans, service members and the public gathered at Memorial Park in Helena to honor Montanans who were prisoners of war or never returned home.
This year is the 40th National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Montana has 53 service members listed as Prisoners of War or Missing in Action from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War.
The name of each Montanan who has been designated as a POW/MIA was read at the solemn ceremony
An empty chair was set up, covered with the POW/MIA flag, to memorialize the people who weren’t able to return home.
Attendees say Friday’s ceremony is important so that we never forget those who did not return home.
“As the families age, the memories of these people drifts a little farther away,” said Dick Juvik, past president of the Montana POW/MIA Awareness Association. “The sons, daughters and grandchildren should know that they’ve got relatives that did not come home.”
More than 82,000 American service members remain missing since World War II.
The name of every Montana POW/MIA service member can be found on the Montana POW/MIA Awareness Association website.
