POW/MIA Awareness Day

The Memorial will host a special ceremony at 11 a.m. in memory of the nation’s POWs and MIAs.  Special guest speaker will be Jessica Lynch, a former United States Army soldier who served in the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and allied forces. On March 23, 2003, Private First Class Lynch was serving as a unit supply specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company when her convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces during the Battle of Nasiriyah. Lynch was seriously injured and captured. Her subsequent recovery by U.S. Special Operations Forces on April 1, 2003, received considerable media coverage and was the first successful rescue of an American prisoner of war since Vietnam and the first ever of a woman. Free admission until noon. Gold Star families admitted free all day.