Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

Team Buckley service members stand at parade rest during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 20, 2013, at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. According to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, more than 83,000 Americans are missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe/Released)

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Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

Team Buckley service members salute the American flag during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 20, 2013, at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. National POW/MIA Recognition Day is traditionally observed the third Friday of September. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe/Released)

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Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

Rick Crandall, Colorado Freedom Memorial president, spoke during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 20, 2013, at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. Crandall, an Air Force veteran, started the largest Veterans Day event in Denver known as the Veterans Salute. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe/Released)

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Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

The American flag, Air Force flag and POW/MIA flag were on display during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 20, 2013, at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. Congress passed a resolution authorizing National POW/MIA Recognition Day to be observed on July 18, 1979, but the observance now falls on the third Friday of September. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe/Released)

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Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

Col. Dan Wright, 460th Space Wing commander, gave closing remarks during the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony Sept. 20, 2013, at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. National POW/MIA Recognition Day is acknowledged around the world on military installations and ships, and in state capitols, schools and veterans’ facilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe/Released)

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Team Buckley pays respects to POW/MIA

Published Sept. 23, 2013
By Staff Sgt. Paul Labbe
460th Space Wing Public Affairs

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - -- Buckley service members gathered Sept. 20 at the 460th Space Wing headquarters building for the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is acknowledged around the world on military installations and ships, and in state capitols, schools and veterans' facilities. It is traditionally observed on the third Friday in September each year.

Rick Crandall, Colorado Freedom Memorial president, spoke during the ceremony regarding reaching out and getting to know the families of those who are missing and those who were once prisoners of war.

"As a group, they are not forgotten; but as individuals, we have lost touch with them," said Crandall. "Freedom tastes different when you've been held captive.

Crandall, an Air Force veteran, started the largest Veterans Day event in Denver known as the Veterans Salute. He was also the driving force behind construction of the Colorado Freedom Memorial in Aurora. The memorial honors the nearly 6,000 Colorado Soldiers who are missing or were killed in action.

Col. Dan Wright, 460th Space Wing commander, also remarked on the need for remembrance of those who served before them.

"As our Airman, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen continue to serve our nation, we owe it to each and every one of them that we will never give up, and we will never forget," he said.