You Are
Not Forgotten

the missing man table

The small table with one chair

If you've ever seen a small table set for one at a military ball, a VFW hall, or a ceremony and wondered what it means — it's set for the service members who are still missing, who cannot sit at their own tables. The details vary a little between services and organizations, but the meaning is the same everywhere:

• The table is small, for one — the weakness of a lone prisoner against his captors.
• The white cloth for the purity of their response to our country's call.
• A single rose for the families and loved ones who keep the faith.
• A red ribbon for the love of country, shown in their sacrifice.
• A slice of lemon for the bitter fate of one taken captive.
• A pinch of salt for the tears of the families who wait.
• The glass is inverted — they cannot toast with us tonight.
• The chair is empty. They are not here. That's the point.

Wordings differ by organization — VFW, American Legion, and each service branch keep their own scripts. Ask a post member to read theirs sometime; it hits harder out loud.

by the numbers

Still unaccounted for

Americans remain missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Gulf Wars. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency — the Department of Defense agency whose entire mission is finding them — still runs recovery missions around the world, and names are identified every year.

Figures are kept current on dpaa.mil — we won't reprint a moving number with a fake decimal of precision. Check the source before quoting it anywhere official.

the flag

The black-and-white banner

The POW/MIA flag — a silhouette, barbed wire, and the words "You Are Not Forgotten" — is the only flag besides Old Glory ever authorized to fly over the White House, and federal law directs it to be flown on six days a year, this day first among them. When you see it below the Stars and Stripes, that's what it's saying: some of ours are still out there, and we're not done looking.

if you want to do something

What honoring looks like locally

• Go to the ceremony. Posts and bases hold observances every year — walk in, sit down, you're welcome. No one checks a membership card at a remembrance.
• Say the name. If your family is missing someone, say their name out loud on this day. If you know a family that is, say it to them.
• Teach it forward. Most people under 40 have never had the table explained to them. Send them this page.