WASHINGTON, D.C. — The War Department marked National POW/MIA Recognition Day on Friday with a solemn Pentagon ceremony honoring American service members who were held captive and those who never returned home from past wars.
“Today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosted the Department of War’s 2025 National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony to honor those who were held captive and returned, as well as those who remain unaccounted for from past conflicts,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said during the department’s weekly briefing.
More than 80,000 U.S. service members remain unaccounted for from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is working with 46 nations to locate and repatriate the missing.
“Our prisoners of war, those missing in action and their families, have borne the greatest sacrifices for our country that we can imagine,” Hegseth said. “We owe them an immeasurable debt. They gave the greatest possible sacrifice you could give on the altar of freedom. We will never leave them, and we will not forget them.”
Alongside the ceremony, the administration announced new measures to address violent crime in Memphis. On Monday, President Donald Trump directed the deployment of the Tennessee National Guard to the city, with additional support from federal law enforcement and other agencies.
The move mirrors a similar deployment earlier this summer in Washington, D.C., where the National Guard was activated to respond to rising crime. Under a Sept. 15 memorandum, Hegseth was instructed to coordinate with Tennessee’s governor and, if needed, other states, to mobilize Guard units.
“It won’t be just the National Guard working to crack down on crime in Memphis,” Wilson said. “Other federal agencies, including Justice, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, as well as the FBI, will be working together to get the violence and crime there under control.”
Overseas, the department reported a U.S. strike on narco-terrorist operatives in international waters. Acting on Trump’s orders, forces under U.S. Southern Command killed three Venezuelan nationals accused of trafficking drugs into the United States.
“Narco-terrorists are enemies of the United States — actively bringing death to our shores,” Hegseth said. “We will stop at nothing to defend our homeland and our citizens. We will track them, kill them and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere — at the times and places of our choosing.”
The Pentagon also recognized Army Capt. Kevin Moore and Capt. Griffin Hokanson, winners of the 41st Annual Best Ranger Competition, during a visit with Hegseth. The secretary praised their preparation and commitment, calling it emblematic of the ethos required to win America’s wars.
Closing out the week, the U.S. Air Force marked its 78th anniversary. Established in 1947 as a separate branch of the military, the Air Force continues to provide global air dominance.
“The Air Force continues to fly, fight and win into the wild blue yonder,” Wilson said. “Seventy-eight years later, it remains unmatched in its mission.”
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