Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist will host the DOD 2020 National POW/MIA Recognition Day commemoration to honor those who were held captive and returned, as well as those who remain unaccounted for from past conflicts, at 2 p.m. EDT, Friday, Sept. 18, on the Pentagon River Terrace Parade Field.
The program will include remarks by Deputy Secretary Norquist and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force General John E. Hyten and a flyover by Army UH-60 helicopters performing the missing man formation.
For TV/video, this is a mandated pool event, due to COIVID-19 restrictions; open for others. All journalists desiring to cover the ceremony must obtain a wristband from security screening. Mr. Tom Masten is coordinating pool security screening; please contact him at Thomas.a.masten2.civ@mail.mil for details. Journalists without a Pentagon facility access card must go through security screening at the base of the River Entrance Pedestrian Bridge, and will be escorted to the ceremony from there. Security screening will be 1 – 1:15 p.m. EDT. Please have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification. Journalists with a Pentagon facility access card, and whom have entered the building prior to 12:30 p.m. EDT, may go through security screening at the River Entrance to obtain their wristband, 1:15 – 1:30 p.m. EDT. All journalists wishing to cover the POW/MIA ceremony, including those with a Pentagon facility access card, must be in place no later than 1:45 p.m. EDT. Once security screening has been initiated at the base of the bridge, all journalists entering the building via the bridge for any reason, including those with a Pentagon facility access card not covering the POW/MIA ceremony, must undergo security screening.
Please call 703-697-5131 with any questions regarding media coverage of the ceremony. The ceremony will also be streamed live on Defense.gov.
This ceremony may be cancelled if there is inclement weather. If you are planning on covering the ceremony, please call 703-697-5131 prior to coming to the Pentagon to request the status of the ceremony.
For information about the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, call (703) 699-1193/1420 or send an email to lee.o.tucker.civ@mail.mil.