WHEREAS, Men and women have long answered our nation’s call to duty and undertaken their mission as members of the United States Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS, Our military personnel have gone to battle in countries far and near to defend the ramparts of liberty and resist the agents of tyranny; and

WHEREAS, Hostile forces throughout the world continue to subvert the political and economic freedom for which American soldiers have sacrificed their lives; and

WHEREAS, Since World War I, there have been some 142,257 Americans captured and interned under deplorable conditions; and

WHEREAS, Most of our military personnel have returned home as heroes and proud veterans, but sadly another 92,457 other Americans were lost in combat, and their remains never recovered; and

WHEREAS, On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Court House, Virginia; and

WHEREAS, General King, the American Army General who surrendered the largest number of military fighting personnel ever surrendered at one time to an enemy force, was a student of history who knew that April 9 marked the surrender at Appomattox, and who chose April 9 of 1942, to surrender; and

WHEREAS, The surrender of American and Filipino troops by General King on April 9, 1942, on the Bataan Peninsula led to the infamous Bataan Death March; and

WHEREAS, April 9, 2002, marks the 60th anniversary of the surrender on the Bataan Peninsula; and

WHEREAS, The POW remembrance flag flies over the California Capitol daily; and

WHEREAS, Search teams continually span the globe to locate deceased fighting men so that positive identification can be made and loved ones notified; and

WHEREAS, The National POW Museum located in Andersonville, Georgia, honors all prisoners of war, and is a constant reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country; and

WHEREAS, April 9 was chosen by Congress to be the national day for honoring prisoners of war; and

WHEREAS, Each year, citizens throughout America join in observances to honor and recognize former American prisoners of war, and to remember those individuals still unaccounted for, so that we may rededicate ourselves to finding a resolution to their status that will allow their families to have the peace they deserve; now, therefore, be it