American POWs of Japan is a research project of Asia Policy Point, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that studies the US policy relationship with Japan and Northeast Asia. The project aims to educate Americans on the history of the POW experience both during and after World War II and its effect on the U.S.-Japan Alliance.
This National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, we honor every American service member who returned home after enduring the horrors of captivity by enemy forces during times of war. My Administration will always uphold the promise to leave no warrior behind and to bring home the missing souls from every war or conflict.
No one is more deserving of our Nation’s appreciation than the former prisoners of war (POWs) who put their lives on the line for freedom’s cause and survived brutality and violence beyond all comprehension for the sake of our posterity. These brave warriors endured unthinkable atrocities, torture, mental and physical abuse, separation from family, and horrendous living conditions. Their selflessness and strength deserve our everlasting respect, and as Commander in Chief, I will never stop fighting for these exceptional heroes and all of our incredible veterans.
This year, as we celebrate 250 glorious years of American independence, we are reminded that this milestone is possible only because brave men and women from every generation answered the call of liberty when it was in peril. As our American Flag flies high over a Nation made free by their sacrifice, the POW/MIA flag flies at federal sites just below it—a requirement I was proud to sign into law during my first term—to serve as a constant reminder of those still missing in action and our duty to account for them and bring them home.
As we pause today to celebrate the POWs who returned home, we also acknowledge their families who lived for months and years in a prison of uncertainty and fear while awaiting news of their loved ones. This unimaginable sacrifice deserves our utmost gratitude, admiration, and awe.
Our returned POWs represent the best of America. They understand what it means to serve a cause greater than self, and their names and stories should never be forgotten by a people forever in their debt. Today and every day, we honor their extraordinary sacrifices, courage, patriotism, and resilience.
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N.B.: This proclamation is not as badly written as previous ones by the Trump White House. It was still issued late. The document did not appear on the White House website until late morning on the 9th. Previous presidents posted the day before. Sadly, there is no mention of either the POWs of Japan or of the Civil War. April 9 is a significant date for both.
April 9 is the 84th anniversary of the 1942 fall of Bataan to invading Japanese forces in the Philippines. Army Major General Edward P. King surrendered to Japanese General Masaharu Homma that morning. About 12,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipinos became prisoners of war making it the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender in U.S. military history.
There is, however, aPresidential Message on the Anniversary of the Surrender at Appomattox. April 9 is the 161st anniversary of the 1865 surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively signaling the end of the Civil War. The formal and legal end of the Civil War is August 20, 1866,
Trump's Appomattox proclamation was not mandated by Congress. It is also the first by a president of the United States.
From the battlefields of the Revolutionary War to the trenches of World War II to the sprawling jungles of Vietnam, thousands of our patriotic service members have been horrifically captured by the enemy and forced to endure excruciating torture, agony, and distress in the service of our Nation. On this National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) Recognition Day, we remember our valiant American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen who were captured while fighting on foreign soil and our missing in action who have not yet returned home. We honor their courage, we salute their patriotism, and we vow full accountability for the more than 80,000 heroes still missing from the wars and conflicts of the past. [Aside from the atrocious grammar and writing unfit for a White House statement, the facts are incorrect. Not all American POW/MIAs were captured or killed on foreign soil. There were POW/MIAs in the Revolutionary War (note the contradiction in the first sentence), the War of 1812, and the Civil War to name a few. During WWII, Americans were made POWs in American territories such as Wake Island, Guam, and Attu as well as captured on American merchant vessels. Not all military POWs were members of the military. During WWII in the Pacific, for example, the civilian contractors on Wake Island were eventually given veterans status, although none were formally enlisted members of the U.S. Armed Services. Some historians believe that more American Revolutionary War soldiers died as POWs of the British than in battle.]
Every American POW has answered the call of duty to fight not only for our country, but for the futures of our families, fellow soldiers, and our beloved Nation. Imprisoned by enemy forces, American POWs endured years of deprivation, brutality, and anguish, sustained only by uncommon resilience and grit. Their families lived in their own prison of fear and perpetual heartache, hoping and praying for a safe return. For the loved ones of the missing, the unfathomable grief endures.
During my first Administration, I signed the National POW/MIA Flag Act directing the POW/MIA flag to be [visibly] flown with the American flag [on prominent federal buildings]. The black and white banner represents the noble sacrifices made in defense of our freedom and serves as an enduring and powerful symbol of our unwavering commitment to leaving no one behind. [Inexplicably, eight months after President Trump signedS. 693, the “National POW/MIA Flag Act, in November 2019he had the POW/MIA flag removed from atop the White House. It had flown there under the American flag since 1998, the Clinton Administration. The POW/MIA flag was illegally missing until President Joe Biden returned it atop the White House on April 9, 2021, the anniversary of the fall of the Bataan Penisular in the Philippines and the beginning of the infamous Bataan Death March. It remains there as of April 2026.]
As Commander in Chief, I remain committed to pursuing full accountability for those captured and missing in action. During my first term, I secured the repatriation of remains from North Korea, believed to be at least 250 individuals who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Korean War. In March of this year, our Nation identified the 100th service member from the remains — ending decades of uncertainty for the families of the fallen. This sacred mission will continue until every American is returned home. [North Korea returned 55 cases of possible remains in the summer of 2018. None hve been returned since. The North Koreans suspended the program in March 2019. Of the 250 possible people among the 501 bones returned, a number are South Korean. The identification process is ongoing.]
Today, the First Lady joins me in honoring America’s POW/MIAs and their families. The debt of gratitude for their unimaginable sacrifices in defense of our sovereignty can never be repaid, and must never be forgotten. [Notably, in 2017, Trump called these men and women "suckers and losers."]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 19, 2025, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. I salute all American POWs who, in the presence of great dangers and uncertainties, honored their duty to this great country. Let this day also serve as a reminder for our Nation to strengthen our resolve to account for those who are still missing and provide their families long-sought answers. I call upon Federal, State, tribal, and local government officials and private organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.
On April 8, Dr. Wayne E. Lee, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, President, Society for Military History Writes
The constitutional mission of the Society for Military History is “to stimulate and advance the study of military history, especially that of the United States, and to diffuse knowledge thereof by publications, displays, and otherwise.” In response to recent wholesale deletions or removals of historical publications, websites, lesson plans, and even the removal of books and archives, the Society’s Council has voted to act to preserve deleted materials and report on other administrative actions at state or federal levels that interfere with the mission of our Society.
We believe that historical work requires the preservation of and access to records and publications. And there is no denying in this moment that books, articles, whole journal issues, lesson plans, exhibits, art installations, archives, and possibly more, are being removed from public access through a combination of automated screening for key words and through employees being diverted from their usual work into screening publications and materials. It is true that after public outrage some few websites have been restored, but this has been thus far spotty at best.
The involvement of historians within the government in the process of removal means that many members of our Society have specific knowledge of what materials are being or have been removed. We encourage you to contribute to the archive.
The Society will archive materials and publications removed from federal and state entities since January 2025 that are materially relevant to the conduct of military history, including all arenas of research, publication, dissemination, and teaching. Persons with access to deleted materials are encouraged to send unaltered copies (or at least links to currently active web archived copies such as the Wayback Machine, etc.) to SocMilHist@proton.me. The SMH will both publicly list those materials and make copies available.
Alternatively, files may be directly (and anonymously) uploaded simply by dragging your file into the upload space and clicking the Upload button on this page. You may enter your name, your email, and something about the file you are uploading, but you do not have to. Finally, answer the simple math problem to prove you are a human!
Members with knowledge of other actions, to include archive deletions, exhibit alterations, publication removal, or the removal of books from libraries (with relevance to military history) are encouraged to report them (anonymously if need be) to SMH leadership using this linked form.
The SMH will try to verify all submitted information, and will indicate as such on the list. If materials are restored to public view or access we ask the members to let us know via the same form, and we will update the list accordingly, although we will continue to list the item as having been deleted at least for the time being.
All submissions should be solely related to the practice of military history. Submitters are asked to provide sources for their information. We will NOT accept or archive any materials not already in the public domain.
Among other things, it is important to note that in many cases, items removed are publications of our members. They are lines on C.V.s. Their disappearance threatens our members’ efforts at promotion, advancement, placement, or tenure.This archive will help fill that gap. I believe it is also worth pointing out that two separate votes were held on this motion, one for the draft text, made by the previous board, and one for the post-conference slightly revised text.
Asia Policy Point supports the Society's efforts to preserve copies of things now missing and their continued effort to follow and record any destruction of the historical record. We encourage our followers to submit to the Society military history records that have found to have been deleted or altered by the Trump Administration.
WASHINGTON – An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries. The following statement was made by the American Library Association:
Americans have loved and relied on public, school and academic libraries for generations. By eliminating the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services, the Trump administration’s executive order is cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer:
Early literacy development and grade-level reading programs
Summer reading programs for kids
High-speed internet access
Employment assistance for job seekers
Braille and talking books for people with visual impairments
Homework and research resources for students and faculty
Veterans’ telehealth spaces equipped with technology and staff support
STEM programs, simulation equipment and training for workforce development
Small business support for budding entrepreneurs
To dismiss some 75 committed workers and mission of an agency that advances opportunity and learning is to dismiss the aspirations and everyday needs of millions of Americans. And those who will feel that loss most keenly live in rural communities.
As seedbeds of literacy and innovation, our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.
ALA implores President Trump to reconsider this short-sighted decision. We encourage U.S. Congressmembers, Senators and decision makers at every level of government to visit the libraries that serve their constituents and urge the White House to spare the modest federal funding for America’s libraries. And we call on all Americans who value reading, learning, and enrichment to reach out to their elected leaders and Show Up For Our Libraries at library and school meetings, town halls, and everywhere decisions are made about libraries.
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The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent federal agency that supports libraries and museums in all 50 states and U.S. territories through grantmaking, research and policy development. IMLS administers both federal grants to states, which determine how funds are spent, and discretionary grants to individual library entities.
Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, deputy director of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency, hosts a moving ceremony on POW/MIA Recognition Day at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 18, 2020.
Throughout our Nation’s history, America’s sons and daughters have heroically safeguarded our precious freedoms and defended the cause of liberty both at home and abroad. On National POW/MIA Recognition Day, we remember the more than 500,000 prisoners of war who have endured incredible suffering and brutality under conditions of extraordinary privation, and the tens of thousands of our patriots who are still missing in action. Although our Nation will never be able to fully repay our debt to those who have given so much on our behalf, we commemorate their bravery and recommit to working for their long-suffering families who deserve answers and solace for their missing loved ones.
Today, I join a grateful Nation in honoring those POWs who faithfully served through extreme hardship and unimaginable physical and emotional trauma. Their lives and resilience reflect the best of the American Spirit, and their immeasurable sacrifices have ensured the blessings of freedom for future generations. On this day, we also reaffirm our unceasing global efforts to obtain the fullest possible accounting of our MIA personnel. The search, recovery, and repatriation of MIA remains help bring closure to families bearing the burden of the unresolved fate of their loved ones. That is why in 2018, I worked to secure the historic repatriation of remains from North Korea, and why we are continually working to bring more home from around the world. My Administration will never waver in fulfilling our country’s obligation to leave no service member behind.
This year, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and reflect upon both the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and the 45th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, we pause to recognize the men and women who were held as POWs or deemed MIA in these conflicts against repressive ideologies. These service members and civilians, many from the Greatest Generation, deserve a special place of honor in the hearts of all Americans because of their selfless devotion, unflinching courage, and unsurpassed dedication to our cherished American values.
On September 18, 2020, our Nation’s citizens will look to the iconic black and white flag as a powerful reminder of the service of America’s POWs and service members who have gone MIA. This flag, especially when flying high above our military installations abroad, conveys the powerful message of American devotion to the cause of human liberty and our commitment to never forget the brave Americans lost defending that liberty. On this National POW/MIA Recognition Day, our Nation takes a special moment to pay tribute to those who endured the horrors of enemy captivity and those lost in service to our country. Our Nation will continue to be resolute in our relentless pursuit of those remains of service members who have yet to return home from war and our steadfast promise to their families that their loved ones will never be forgotten.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 18, 2020, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Together with the people of the United States, I salute all American POWs who, in the presence of great dangers and uncertainties, valiantly honored their duty to this great country. Let this day also serve as a reminder for our Nation to strengthen our resolve to account for those who are still missing and provide their families long-sought answers. I call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and private organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
Today is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. By law, 36 U.S. Code § 902, the POW/MIA Flag is to be displayed whenever the American flag is displayed on prominent Federal properties, such as the White House, to honor the more than 82,000 Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), Missing in Action (MIA), or otherwise unaccounted for from our nation's past wars and conflicts.
Display of the POW/MIA flag pursuant to this law must be "in a manner designed to ensure visibility to the public."
From August 1998 until June 2020, the POW/MIA flag has been displayed every day atop the White House. It is the only place on the White House grounds that is continually visible to the public. The flag was removed sometime in June 2020. White House spokesman Judd Deere told Reuters, “The president selected a site on the Southwest corner of the South Lawn for this prominent and sacred memorial, which is visible to all those who visit the White House, that features the POW/MIA flag.” This is not what the law implies. It must be visible to all.
On November 7, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into law a refinement to the 1998 law regarding the POW/MIA flag. This change required that the flag be continually flown on designated federal properties, such as the White House. S. 693, the “National POW/MIA Flag Act was introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren and cosponsored by Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Thune (R-SD), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Pat Toomey (R-PA).
Prior to the signing of the Act, the POW/MIA flag was required only to be displayed by the Federal government on certain prominent federal properties only six days per year to include Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, and Veterans Day.
POW/MIA FLAG IS MISSING FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY
Dan Crowley, 98, from Connecticut, is a former POW of Japan who survived the December 8-10, 1941 bombing of Nichols Field near Manila as a member of the US Army Air Corps, the Battle of the Points on Bataan as part of the US Army Infantry, swimming to Corregidor to avoid the Bataan Death March, fighting with the 4th Marines on Corregidor, and then as a POW enduring the Cabanatuan POW Camp, constructing the air field on Palawan Island, a hell ship to Japan, and slave labor in the Ashio Copper Mine owned (and still owned) by the mega company Furukawa. He is mad as hell with what the President said about him and his fellow POWs. He talked to VoteVets about how he felt.
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of George Rogers (100) on August 18 in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty University reported his death on the 20th.
In 2015, at 95, he returned to Japan with nine other former POWs of Imperial Japan as a guest of the Japanese government as part of the 6th POW Friendship program that is organized by the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society of which he was a member. The Japanese initiated this important program of reconciliation only in 2010.
Rogers was a survivor of the Bataan Death March, the hellship Nissyo Maru, and Nippon Steel's steel mill at Yawata (now a UNESCO site). The multi-national Nippon Steel still exists and has never offered an apology for its use of POW slave labor. The Yawata steel mill complex was to be the target of the second atomic bomb, but on that day clouds covered the target and Nagasaki was instead selected.
GEORGE W. ROGERS, 100, resided in Lynchburg, Virginia. Mr. Rogers grew up in St Louis, Missouri and enlisted in the U.S. Army August 20, 1941, at Jefferson Barracks. He arrived on the Philippines October 1 and was assigned to 4th Chemical Company.
At first a clerk/typist at Fort McKinley, he was soon fighting in the defense of Bataan with L Company of the 31st Infantry Regiment (US) after Japan’s December 8 invasion. American forces were short of food, ammunition, and reinforcements throughout the campaign against the better equipped and trained Japanese. All forces on Bataan were surrendered on April 9, 1942, and most were forced on the infamous Bataan Death March.
Mr. Rogers endured the 65-mile trek up the Bataan Peninsula experiencing starvation, exhaustion, and beatings while witnessing merciless murders and torture. At the Camp O’Donnell where 1,500 Americans died over four months, he was a gravedigger. In August, he was moved to Cabanatuan #3 to farm rice and vegetables as well as to do duty building an airfield. On top of the beatings he received from the camp guards, Mr. Rogers and his fellow soldiers suffered through extreme pain in their feet and legs due primarily to dry or dry beriberi, a disease affecting the nerves and muscles. He also survived malaria and spent six months quarantined for what was thought to be amoebic dysentery.
On July 17, 1944, he was one of 1541 POWs taken to Japan via Formosa aboard the Hellship Nissyo Maru. During the 18-day trip with barely any food or clean drinking water, extreme heat, rampant illness — both physical and mental—he said, “I almost lost it, and then … I got a peace that came over me, and I just felt everything is going to be alright, just relax”; Rogers said. “As far as I’m concerned, God was at work again.” After arriving at the port of Moji, Japan, he was sent toPOW Camp Fukuoka 3-B YawataJapan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Nippon Seitetsu; today’s multi-national Nippon Steel) to work in the Yawata steel mill for the rest of the war. Yawata featured Japan’s first blast furnace and was one the Empire’s most important armament makers. It was the primary target for the second atomic bomb. Cloud cover from aerial bombing on August 8, 1945, prevented this, but succeed in destroying key production facilities and ending prisoner work at the mill.
In July 2015, the site was given UNESCO World Industrial Heritage status, albeit without mention of the hundreds of POW slave laborers—American, British, Australian, Dutch, Portuguese, Jamaican, Indian, Malay, Chinese, and Arabians at the site. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the facilities of Yawata Steel Works in July 2014, to encourage the UNESCO application.
On August 15, 1945, the camp commander announced that the war had ended and the guards disappeared. The camp was liberated on September 13th.
Mr. Rogers returned to the U.S. a gaunt, 6-foot-3, 85 pounds. Military doctors told him that it was unlikely that he would live past 45 or 50, keep his teeth, or have children. He retained his teeth, had five children, and displayed “a contagious joy.” Mr. Rogers used the G.I. Bill to obtain an accounting degree from St. Louis University.
Starting in 1973, Mr. Rogers was the CFO for Reverend Jerry Falwell (founder of the Moral Majority) overseeing his Old Time Gospel Hour television ministry and the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. He became Liberty University’s vice president of finance and administration in 1999, through to Rev Falwell’s death in 2007.
In 2010, Liberty University named an award in Rogers' honor. The George Rogers Champion of Freedom Award is given annually to a man or woman who served in the United States Armed Forces and went above the call of duty, displaying extraordinary heroism while serving. The award is presented at a Flames football game during Liberty's Military Emphasis Week, held near Veterans Day. A bust of Rogers stands at the gate of Williams Stadium, the home of the Liberty Flames football team, as a tribute to Rogers for his sacrifices.
In 2017, President Donald Trump devoted 20 minutes of his commencement speech at Liberty University honoring George Roger s' inspiring courage and grit.
Mr. Rogers was married 67 year to Barbara,who passed away August 2015 shortly before he returned to Japan.
Mr. Rogers returned to Japan, as a guest of the Japanese government, in October 2015.
For over six minutes of his 30 minute speech, US President Donald Trump recognized George Rogers, a former POW of Japan who had survived the Bataan Death March, a hell ship to Japan, and slave labor at the Yawata Steel Mill.
In 2015, at 95, returned to Japan as a guest of the government as part of the 6th POW Friendship program. George grew up in St Louis, Missouri and enlisted in the U.S. Army August 20, 1941, at Jefferson Barracks. He arrived on the Philippines October 1, 1941 and was assigned to 4th Chemical Company. At first a clerk/typist at Fort McKinley, he was soon fighting in the defense of Bataan with L Company of the 31st Infantry Regiment (US) after Japan’s December 8 invasion. Throughout the campaign, American forces were short of food, ammunition, and reinforcements against the better equipped and trained Japanese.
Bataan was surrendered on April 9, 1942, and most of the nearly 80,000 American and Filipino troops on the peninsula were forced on the infamous Bataan Death March. George endured the 65-mile trek up the Bataan Peninsula experiencing starvation, exhaustion, and beatings while witnessing merciless abuse, murders, and torture. At their destination, Camp O’Donnell, 1,500 Americans died in the first four months from disease, lack of food, and lack of hope. He was busy as a gravedigger.
In August 1942, he was moved to Cabanatuan #3 to farm rice and vegetables as well as forced labor building an airfield. On top of the beatings he received from the camp guards, George and his fellow soldiers suffered through extreme pain in their feet and legs due primarily to dry or wet beriberi, a disease affecting the nerves and muscles. He also survived malaria and spent six months quarantined for what was thought to be amoebic dysentery.
On July 17, 1944, he was one of 1541 POWs taken to Japan via Formosa in the hold of the Hellship Nissyo Maru. During the 18-day trip with barely any food or clean drinking water, extreme heat, rampant illness — both physical and mental—he said, “I almost lost it, and then … I got a peace that came over me, and I just felt everything is going to be alright, just relax”; Rogers said. “As far as I’m concerned, God was at work again.”
After arriving at the port of Moji, Japan, he was sent toPOW Camp Fukuoka 3-B YawataJapan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Nippon Seitetsu; today’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation) to work in the Yawata steel mill for the rest of the war. Yawata featured Japan’s first blast furnace and was one the Empire’s most important armament makers. It was the primary target for the second atomic bomb. Cloud cover from aerial bombing on August 8, 1945, however, prevented this. The conventional bombing did succeed in destroying the mill's key production facilities and ended prisoner work at the mill shortly before the war ended.
In July 2015, the Yawata Mill was given UNESCO World Industrial Heritage status, albeit without mention of the hundreds of POW slave laborers—American, British, Australian, Dutch, Portuguese, Jamaican, Indian, Malay, Chinese, and Arabians at the site. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had visited the facilities of Yawata Steel Works in July 2014, to encourage the UNESCO application. Again without acknowledgement of the multi-national labor force that keep the mill going during the war.
On August 15, 1945, the camp commander announced that the war had ended and the guards disappeared. The camp was liberated on September 13th. George returned to the U.S. a gaunt, 6-foot-3, 85 pounds. Military doctors told him that it was unlikely that he would live past 45 or 50, keep his teeth, or have children. Today at 98, he retains his teeth, has five children, and displays “a contagious joy.”
George used the G.I. Bill to obtain an accounting degree from St. Louis University. Starting in 1973, he became the CFO for Reverend Jerry Falwell (founder of the Moral Majority) overseeing his Old Time Gospel Hour television ministry and the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. He became Liberty University’s vice president of finance and administration in 1999, through to Rev Falwell’s death in 2007.
In 2010, Liberty University named an award in George's honor. The George Rogers Champion of Freedom Award is given annually to a man or woman who served in the United States Armed Forces and went above the call of duty, displaying extraordinary heroism while serving. The award is presented at a Flames football game during Liberty's Military Emphasis Week, held near Veterans Day. A bust of George stands at the gate of Williams Stadium, the home of the Liberty Flames football team, as a tribute to Rogers for his sacrifices. George was married 67 year to Barbara,who passed away August 2015.
President Donald Trump's remarks:
America is better when people put their faith into action. As long as I am your president, no one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what's in your heart.
(APPLAUSE)
We will always stand up for the right of all Americans to pray to God and to follow his teachings. America is beginning a new chapter. Today, each of you begins a new chapter as well. When your story goes from here, it will be defined by your vision, your perseverance and your grit. That's a word Jim Kelly knows very well, your grit.
In this, I'm reminded of another man you know very well and who has joined us here today. His name is George Rogers, Liberty University CFO and vice president for a quarter of a century. During World War II, George spent three-and-a-half years as a prisoner of war. He saw many of his fellow soldiers die during the Bataan death march. He was the victim of starvation and torture as a prisoner of war. When he was finally set free he weighed just 85 pounds and was told he would not live past the age of 40. Today, George is 98 years old.
(APPLAUSE)
Great. That's so great, George.
If anyone ever had reason to quit, to give in to the bitterness and anger that we all face at some point, to lose hope in God's vision for his life, it was indeed George Rogers. But that's not what he did. He stood up for his country, he stood up for his community. He stood up for his family and he defended civilization against a tide of barbarity, the kind of barbarity we're seeing today and we've been witnessing over the last number of years.
And I just want to tell you, as your president, we are doing very, very well in countering it, so you just hang in there. Things are going along very, very well. You'll be hearing a lot about it next week from our generals. Things are going along very, very well.
(APPLAUSE)
Through it all, he kept his faith in God, even in the darkest depths of despair. Like so many others of his generation, George came home to a nation full of optimism and pride and began to live out the American dream. He started a family, he discovered God's plan for him and pursued that vision with all his might, pouring his passion into a tiny college in a place called Lynchburg, Virginia.
Did you ever hear of that? Lynchburg? We love it. Do you like it? We like it, right? I flew over it a little while ago. It's amazing, actually.
What started as a dream with a few good friends he helped shepherd into the largest Christian university in the world. Just look at this amazing, soaring, growing campus.
And I've been watching it grow because I've been a friend of Liberty for a long time, now, Jerry. It's been a long time.
Thanks in great part George's financial stewardship, hundreds of thousands of young hearts and souls have been enriched at Liberty and inspired by the spirit of God.
George, we thank you and we salute you. And you just stay healthy for a long time, George, thank you.
On National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, America honors our service men and women imprisoned during war. These patriots have moved and inspired our Nation through their unyielding sacrifices and devout allegiance. We honor the strength through adversity of all of these heroes from our Nation's wars and conflicts, from the American Revolution to the World Wars, from Korea to Vietnam, from Desert Storm to the War on Terror.
American service members serve and fight selflessly each day to secure the freedoms we often take for granted. They bear the full weight of their oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," in which there is no safety clause. None know this so well as our former prisoners of war (POWs). According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than half a million Americans have been captured and interned as POWs since the American Revolution.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March. After the surrender of the Bataan peninsula in the Philippines on April 9, 1942, Filipino and American soldiers were rounded up and forced to march 60 miles from Mariveles to San Fernando. An estimated 500 Americans died during the march, as they were starved, beaten, and tortured to death. Those who reached San Fernando were taken in cramped boxcars to POW camps, where thousands more Americans died of disease and starvation.
These stories remind us of the great sacrifice and bravery of our men and women in the Armed Forces. Throughout our history, they have risked everything to defend our country. They have been stripped of liberty, and regained it. They have faced the darkness of captivity, and emerged to the warm light of freedom. These victories have no match. These triumphs ignite the flame of liberty deep within their hearts, and in ours, and make America the great Nation it is today.
But in celebrating those POWs who returned from captivity, we also solemnly remember and honor those who died in captivity. They paid the ultimate price for their love of country.
As President, I am committed to providing our veterans, and especially our former POWs, with the support, care, and resources they deserve. Our country owes a debt to our heroes that we can never adequately repay, but which we will always honor each day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 9, 2017, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. I call upon Americans to observe this day by honoring the service and sacrifice of all our former prisoners of war and to express our Nation's eternal gratitude for their sacrifice. I also call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.
