HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 175

Reps. Mentzer, MacDonell, Koleszar, Robinson, Martus, Hope, Hoskins, Rogers, Snyder, Pohutsky, Price, B. Carter, Andrews, Liberati, Kunse, Hoadley, Lightner, Harris, Steckloff, Kelly, Schriver, Bruck, Paquette, Rigas, St. Germaine, Schmaltz, Wozniak, Neyer, Posthumus, Woolford, Morgan, Miller, Grant, Weiss, Scott, Wegela, McKinney, Wooden, Tsernoglou, Rheingans and Xiong offered the following resolution:

A resolution to declare September 19, 2025, as POW/MIA Recognition Day in the state of Michigan.

Whereas, The United States has fought in many wars and thousands of Americans who served in those wars were captured by the enemy or are listed as missing in action; and

Whereas, It has always been the creed of those who wear a military uniform never to leave a fallen comrade on the battlefield. On this day, we pay tribute to those who are missing in action or who were taken prisoner of war and never returned home; and

Whereas, To date, more than 80,000 Americans are listed as prisoners of war or missing in action since World War II. This includes more than 71,000 from World War II, 7,000 from the Korean War, one hundred from the Cold War, 1,500 from the Vietnam War, and seven from the Gulf Wars and Libya. Of those totals, Michigan still accounts for 2,445 from World War II, 328 from the Korean War, five from the Cold War, and forty-eight from the Vietnam War; and

Whereas, We as a nation can never collectively rest until we achieve the fullest possible accounting for those men and women; and

Whereas, We express our deepest gratitude to these patriots in both words and actions, knowing they were fighting to protect our rights and freedoms; and our commitment will not be fulfilled until they all come home; and

Whereas, The black-and-white POW/MIA flag will fly proudly along with the United States and State of Michigan flags on September 19, serving as a solemn reminder that while the duty of those who are missing in action or prisoners of war is finished, ours continues as we seek to find, repatriate, and honor these courageous men and women; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body declare September 19, 2025, as POW/MIA Recognition Day in the state of Michigan.