POW-MIA Day

A ceremony marking the annual POW-MIA Day was held Friday, September 18 at the NAS Whidbey Seaplane Base in Oak Harbor. A crowd of hundreds, including members of Rolling Thunder and Patriot Guard motorcycle groups, took part in the ceremony. The afternoon event culminated with the raising of a POW-MIA flag and an F18 flyover to honor those imprisoned and missing in action. Acknowledged in remarks was the recent discovery of the remains of Captain Michael Scott Speicher, a U.S. Navy pilot shot down in Iraq in 1991. Marines in the western Iraqi province of Anbar found remains that were positively identified as those of the fighter pilot, shot down in the opening hours of the first Persian Gulf war. Captain Speicher was the only American missing in action from that war.