performed by Master Sergeant . Page
rubble from the United States Air Force
band and the invocation delivered by
chaplain Colonel Eddie Kinley Junior .
Oh say can
by the dawn's early light .
What so proud
at the time lights last gleaming
whose broad stripes and bright stars
fight or the part
we want for so govender ,
me streaming .
Oh , say does that star
spangled
or not ?
Mm Thank you .
Let us fervently bar heads for a word
of prayer . Eternal ! Heavenly father .
We have assembled here this morning in
the Hall of Heroes in remembrance of
the brave men and women offered their
service and sacrifice in defense of
this great country and her allies . Let
us not forget the 72,000 lost in World
War two 7000 missing from the korean
war in the 1500 in Vietnam who raised
their right hand , leaving behind
friends and families and loved ones .
We thank you that we can take a moment
out of the daily grind of our day and
reflect and remember the unsung heroes
who never returned home who never had
the opportunity to reunite and yet who
were willing to give their all and
sacrifice and service to the recipients
of the Land of the Free and the Home of
the Brave today . Oh God , we honor
their loyalty , courage and selfless
service today we remember and reflect
and for this we thank you Hear our
prayer . Amen .
Please be seated .
Ladies and gentlemen , General Daniel
Hokanson , Chief of the National Guard
Baru .
Secretary Austin , Ambassadors of our
partner nations . D . O . D . Leaders
and our distinguished guests today we
honor and observe P . O . W . M . I . A
recognition day . We ache with the
absence of those who remain missing .
We wrap our arms around the families
who bear the burden of dark and heavy
questions . We find strength in our
international partners and our shared
humanity for this solemn mission . We
seek solace in the timeless efforts of
compassionate professionals and service
organizations who refuse to rest until
every american comes home . But more
than that , we grapple with the
concepts of always and never . And the
murky spaces in between always
stretches beyond time . It's a promise
that transcends death . Never is also a
promise . It is definitive , Final and
unmoving . And the murky spaces in
between are the timeless questions .
What are the limits of human endurance ?
Where can we find peace ? Who can bear
the weight of uncertainty and how
long can hope survive ? My family
grappled with these questions in
November of 1967 , when they received
word my uncle was missing in action
after his infantry company was overrun
during the Battle of Doc toe in Vietnam .
For the families in this room and more
than 81,000 families still awaiting
answers . The questions stretch across
months , Years and decades . Some even
the better part of a century .
Sometimes the answer is the happiest
one . Your loved one is alive and
coming home to you . Sometimes the
answer is nothing but bitter grief .
But sometimes our loved ones remain
missing , denying us the promise of
always and never . These are the
service members and families we honor
here today . But our nation has made a
promise . If you pledge your life to
our nation , if you pledge your life to
our constitution , we will not leave
you behind . We will never leave you
behind . And that is why we continue
the search unyielding relentless across
distance and time to keep our promise .
Always , First Lieutenant James
Wright from lumber bridge , north
Carolina cared about others . His
family described him as handsome and
kind and deeply committed to his
community . He began his military
service as a member of L company 120th
Infantry Regiment , which is today part
of the 30th armored Brigade , combat
team of the north Carolina National
Guard . He transferred to the 5th
Infantry Division in 1942 , which is
how he ended up on the banks of the
Moselle River in France in September of
1940 for his regiment crossed the river
and took a position in the woods , but
after sustaining heavy losses , they
were forced to pull back a few soldiers
stayed behind a search for the wounded
and the missing , Remembering their
promise to leave no one behind .
Lieutenant Wright was one of those
soldiers after rescuing three wounded
soldiers on the german occupied side of
the river . Lieutenant right across the
river . One more time . He was never
seen again except never in this
case was not never last year , 77
years after his death along the Moselle .
Lieutenant Wright came home After an
anonymous burial in the Luxembourg
American cemetery . After research by
the 7th Armored Division Association .
After his remains were sent to the P .
O . W . M . I . A accounting agency
laboratory . After generations of
questions in the murky space between
when it right came home to lumber
bridge , he was buried at the Oakdale
cemetery in the community he loved and
nearly in sight of the home where his
family waited for his return
Nearly 4300 miles away . Lieutenants
right name is still on the walls of the
missing at the up and all American
cemetery in France . But now next to
his name is a rosette , a symbol the
missing has been found and that brings
us to the promise of always and never a
concept that is never far from those
who serve our nation . But when we
bring to the fore on P . O W . M . I .
A remembrance day , love is always
family is always duty , Service and
honor . They are always My
family's news . In 1967 was bittersweet .
Uncle Steve's battalion of 330 size guy
soldiers suffered 95 killed and 87
wounded at doc toe . After his company
was overrun , steve hidden . The north
Vietnamese occupied airy caring for his
best friend , robert Bly , who was
severely wounded when the U . S .
Retook the area steve was found alive
next to the body of his best friend .
Our family received the good news ,
robert . Bligh's family received the
opposite news , but their son's name
lives on in my uncle's firstborn son ,
My cousin robert Bly Hawkinson .
Because of love and because of our
family and because of duty , service
and honor . We never leave our fellow
service members behind . We never let
their memory fade . We never give up
hope and we never give up the search .
We always remember . We never forget
and we will never rest until every last
american comes home .
Thank you ladies and gentlemen , It is
now my honor to introduce the honorable
Lloyd J . Austin , our 28th Secretary
of Defense .
Well , thank you . General Wilkinson .
And good morning everyone . Thanks for
joining us for this important occasion .
I'm especially honored to welcome
Colonel Mike Brazelton
Brazelton , an
accomplished Air Force pilot who spent
more than six years in captivity in
Vietnam . Colonel Brazleton . Your
monumental courage and sacrifice
inspires us all . And I thoroughly
enjoy spending some time with you this
morning . There's a rumor out
there that Colonel Brazleton actually
conducted a parachute jump yesterday or
earlier this week . I confirmed that
that rumor is true . So he's still
still very active . I'd also like to
recognize your your daughter Adriana ,
who's carrying on your legacy of
military service . We're also joined
today by ambassadors of partner
Nations whose support has been
invaluable in searching for and
recovering our missing missing . So
thanks to all of you for being here ,
we are tremendously grateful for your
support and welcome to the pentagon
to the family members of those who are
still missing . You have shown an
unimaginable strength amid terrible
uncertainty and please know
that your loved ones are always in our
hearts and we are humbled by
your fortitude through the long years
of waiting . Every year on National P .
O . W . And M . I . M I . A recognition
day . We gather to honor american
service members who were taken captive
and to stand with the families of the
missing and the unaccounted for and
to renew our commitment to bring home
our missing heroes .
Just a few days ago , we saw how much
this solemn mission matters As one
American family got the chance to honor
the heroic service of a loved one
in 1943 . And in an Army Air Corps ,
lieutenant colonel named Addison baker
was leading his pilots in a low flying
attack on enemy controlled oilfields in
Romania . As he neared his target ,
the enemy hit him with an anti aircraft
shell . His plane was burning and
damaged and he could have chosen to
land . But Colonel baker
was determined to complete the mission
so he kept going until he hit his
target , but afterwards his damaged
plane tragically crashed into the town
below . The following
year , Colonel baker was posthumously
awarded the medal of Honor for his
valor and we're proud to have his name
on the wall right here in the Hall of
Heroes . Now the
department never gave up on recovering
his remains and nearly eight
decades after his daring mission
scientists at Offutt Air Force Base
used innovative forensic techniques to
identify him . And so this week his
family got to say a proper goodbye and
to bury Colonel baker at Arlington .
And we have some of Colonel baker's
family here with us . We welcome you to
the pentagon and I absolutely enjoyed
having the opportunity to meet with you
earlier today . Thanks for your
sacrifices , your patience , your
determination , your great example of
persistence .
We all know how much this moment means
to you and your family and we couldn't
be prouder to be here with you today .
So thanks for sharing this day with us
you now . Over the years thousands
of families have had the chance to
honor loved ones who have been in
prison or missing . And that's because
of the dedicated work by public
servants in this department and the
service organizations that work
alongside them . But we know that we
have more work to do . A lot more work
to do . As you heard . General
Hawkinson say earlier , more than
81,000 American service members and
civilians remain unaccounted for
And the experts that the defense P . O .
W . M . I , a accounting agency say
that nearly half of those may be
recoverable . This is a monumental
task , but it's also a sacred
obligation because everyone who serves
the United States military makes a
solemn commitment to this country and
their families do as well . And this
country makes a solemn promise to them
in return to provide the fullest
possible accounting for anyone who goes
missing in the line of duty . And it's
our solemn obligation to do right by
those who sacrifice to defend our
security and our democracy .
And so I'm incredibly grateful to
everyone who works so hard to honor
that commitment . Our experts said the
defense P . O . W . M . I . A .
Accounting agency work in 46 countries
and they painstakingly search for
remains and then use cutting edge
forensic testing and techniques to
identify the missing and our partners
around the globe lin vital support
including former foes that have become
friends and family and veteran
service organizations . Many of them
here today shine a spotlight on this
important cause and help us fulfill our
pledge to those who have served
these efforts combine innovation and
skill with compassion and unwavering
resolve all to ensure that
America fulfills the sacred promise .
Over the past year , the department has
identified more than 150 missing
individuals including Colonel baker
and behind each successful
identification is a family story .
These are stories of pain and
uncertainty , but also of hope
and endurance and relief
when long sought answers are finally
found . The black
and white flag that we fly in honor of
our P . O . W . And M . O . S . M . I .
S . Bears a simple but powerful message
to the families of those still missing
and to all those who serve
into our nation . And that message is
that we will never forget . We will
never give up hope and we will never
stop working to find answers and to
bring home are missing
and to all those who are taken captive
and have come home . You have born
unspeakable hardship with
resilience and patriotism .
We are enormously grateful
and to the families of the captured and
missing your strength
and your faith inspire us every day .
Thank you to all who sacrificed so much
to keep this country safe and to ensure
that we keep our most sacred pledge to
the men and women who serve
May God bless you and may God continue
to bless the United States of America .
Thank you very much .
We're all family members representing
prisoners of war and they're still
missing in action . Please stand to be
honored with a moment of silence .
Thank you
ladies and gentlemen , this includes
the Department of Defense 2022 P . O .
W . M . I . A recognition day ceremony .
Thank you for joining us today . Please
join us in the back of the room for
some refreshments