pow - mia flag dedication service planned

 The City of Sevierville announces a POW - MIA Flag Dedication Service on Saturday July 4, 2009, at 10:00 AM, at Sevierville City Park. The event is being conducted by Member of American Legion Post 104's Honor Guard, assisted by Tennessee Helping Hearts, who will be setting up a booth containing their materials on helping all veterans.

Everyone, especially current and past Service Members, Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve and their families, and the public are invited and encouraged to attend this special Independence Day Service. City and County officials , including County Mayor Larry Waters and Sevierville Vice Mayor Dale Carr plan to attend the service.

Following the service, this POW - MIA flag will be repositioned downtown, to it's permanent location, at the City of Sevierville Forks of the River Cemetery Park, near the intersection of Main Street and Highway 448. From this location, it will be one of America's most visible POW - MIA flags.

According to Post 104 Public Relations Officer, Steve Holbert, the POW - MIA flag “stands for some very special Americans, and because of what and who it stands for, this flag is subordinate only to our nation’s flag.”

Mr. Holbert said, the "National League of POW - MIA Families" was responsible for the design of this Flag. It flies for All Returned POWs, from all Wars, and for the over 88,000 American Service Personnel from WW-2 through today, who were captured, missing, or otherwise not yet properly accounted for.

We as Americans, should recognize the obligation that we owe to these brave men and women, and to their families who have no closure, and are still seeking information on what happened to their loved ones. To all our Service personnel, we owe a debt of gratitude, but to these, we owe something more; we owe them something else; we owe them repatriation to their Country, and a proper burial, or as a minimum, we owe them our best effort to make that happen.

The National League of POW - MIA Families' Official Flag has flown over the White House. It is the only flag ever displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where it stands today as a powerful symbol of national commitment to America's POW - MIAs.

In 1990, Congress passed federal Law, which recognized the League's POW - MIA Flag, and designated that it be flown on at least the following six designated days each year: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW - MIA Recognition Day, and Veteran's Day.

The National League of POW - MIA Families recommend that state and municipal entities fly this Flag daily to demonstrate continuing commitment to the goal of the fullest possible accounting of all personnel. American Legion Post 104 agrees, and supports the League of Families on this issue. Currently, more than 7,000 Veterans reside in Sevier County; these Veterans have all returned. This Flag stands for the Veterans who have not yet returned; these Veterans are a very special group indeed! It is with a great deal of personal pride and satisfaction that our home town has agreed to Fly this Flag all the time. We are humbly and sincerely grateful.

At the July the 4th service, Mr. Holbert will speak about this subject. For additional information about the event, please contact American Legion Post 104's Public Relations Officer, Steve Holbert at 865-428-0704, or the City of Sevierville's Professional Services and Public Information Officer, Bob Stahlke at 865-453-5506.