[Alfred Pompeo]: I am glad my comrades, auxiliaries, friends, this morning we are participating and a unique ceremony. The stars and stripes of our nation's banner of freedom, democracy, and courage is joined by the flag that symbolizes the sacrifice of America's prisoners of war and that of her unaccounted for heroes who remain on the roads of the missing in action. The flag raised is not a colorful flag, It is not an inspiring emblem. It was not intended to be. Black is the garb of mourners. It is the color of those who grieve for their lost ones. Returned POWs and all others still long for the news of those missing in action. On this somber black flag is a profiled head, that once was held proudly high, that once stood stalwart against the enemy, but now vowed it is the portrayal of a crestfallen captive under the watchful eye of his tower guard. It is the image of an American serviceman who has been stripped of all dignity and self-respect. The POWMIA flag is a stark and haunting reminder of man's inhumanity to man and a nation's pledge that their POWs and MIAs will never be forgotten. To submit to the enemy, to surrender in battle, is a decision arrived at when no alternative remains. Putting down one's arms when to resist is futile is to acknowledge that discretion is the better part of valor. Forced marches, torturous interrogations, unfit living conditions, rodent-ridden camps, life-infested bodies, starvation, dysentery, disease, and death for all the companions of prisoners of war. Life in the Stalags, the German prison camps, like all other war prison camps, was a psychological as well as a physiological ordeal. Coping with confinement and boredom in a barbed wire compound tested one's will not to succumb to depression and self-pity. While incarceration was made more tolerable talking about mother's home-cooked meals, many found it helpful not to be too proud to pray. Survival, it seems, was as much reliant on faith as on food. Prisoners of war knew that America would prevail against her enemies. They never doubted their nation's resolve to effect their liberation. Yet, while mindful that their country would not abandon them, many petitioned for help from a higher authority. And to this day, they humbly confess that it was amazing grace that set them free. Come on in. Let's go over there to the fire alarm.