If you have ever traveled around the United States, more than likely, at some point, you\'ve seen a black flag flying alongside Old Glory. The flag is the symbol for the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, and I think it has always been an influence on my life. Long-time readers of the blog will know that I believe strongly in the duty of governments to go looking for their missing soldiers. There are still 1,742 U.S. soldiers missing in Vietnam, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
In a short, but fascinating, piece in the new issue of National Geographic, the magazine reports that there are just under 85,000 US soldiers missing since World War II, with almost 75,000 of those being from the Second World War. Currently the United States spends more money than anyone else looking for its missing soldiers. It has nearly 700 cases on the go at any given time and manages to recover the missing at a rate of about 7 a month.
Just as it is the duty of a soldier to serve his country, it is the duty of a country to serve its soldiers, even those that have been lost or perished. I\'m not suggesting that everyone should go out and wave a black flag (though, I can\'t see anything wrong with that either), but I do believe that everyone from every country should take a moment and find a way to let their missing soldiers know that they “Are Not Forgotten”.
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