Well, since 1979, the third Friday in September has been known as national prisoner of War and Missing in Action Recognition Day.

Last Friday, Woodford County observed the day by holding two ceremonies in Rosales and Midway.

A national P.O.W.

Am I recognition day.

Organizations across the country come together to host ceremonies like this one that featured the solemn display of the P.O.W.

Murray flag and what is known as the P.O.W.

memory type.

Both serve as a constant reminder that we must never forget those who served and sacrificed for our freedom.

We also understand that each name on the P.O.W.

email list.

Currently nearly 82,000 represents a life cut short for a family left in uncertainty.

And that was sort of the common thread in all these stories, is that they weren't there, but they want to remember that.

And they want to know.

They want people to know why they weren't there.

And that sacrifice means a lot.

It means a lot to any family.

I think, when you know people like that.

It just hits home more.

Many of us knew Mr. Carle in our neighborhood.

He survived the war and lived with the scars of his capture and his imprisonment for years.

But he was a faithful and proud servant in our community.

Everybody knows, Mr. Mr. Carle, that Mr. Carle was entered in captivity in Germany after his glider was shot down over a city in Romania in the oil fields.

Now, when I first heard Mr. Carle story, I thought, That sounds really familiar.

I realized that my great uncle, who was not from this area at all, was flying in the same mission that Mr. Carr from Woodford County was in when he was shot down.

And he actually documented that day.

The day was Friday and the date was May 5th.

We were told our target would be the oil refineries at Blue Sea Romania.

This would be another double header, which we would be missions 21 and 22.

That is if we made it there and back.

This proved to be the roughest mission I'd been on to date.

Our group lost three planes due to flak over the target.

This mission was a living hell for about 25 minutes.

I watched the crewman bail out of his plane over the target.

His chute opened only to be caught on the tail rotor of a plane behind him.

The plane was already in trouble and began to plunge.

Earthward.

I watched this plane and a dangling airman both hit the ground.

And we have generations here who are still in mourning for grandfathers, great grandfathers who never came home.

Do you think about those stories that got passed down and they weren't there?

We are remembering them.

We are recognizing them, and so that they are not forgotten to history and that their service is not forgotten.

Do History.

Private First Class Ansel Edgar Crick.

The US Army Missing in Action October 24th, 1944.

Captain Calvin Kenneth Curran's USMC.

Career Missing in Action July 3rd, 1951.

Staff Sergeant Robert Earl Duncan, USAF World War Two Missing in Action November 26th.

As you saw there, at the end of that story, people were setting America's white table there and midway.

This idea came from the Vietnam War as a symbol of those missing in action or those being held prisoners of war.

On P.O.W.

Recognition day restaurants, businesses, churches, libraries all participate by setting a table aside for those heroes, we wish to remember.