Remembering POWs and the Missing

At Battleship Cove, an empty black chair stands between the American flag and the POW/MIA flag. Naval uniforms hang nearby, placing this quiet memorial within the everyday clothing of military service. The chair’s unoccupied seat gives absence a visible place.

Empty chairs are used in POW/MIA remembrance to honor those who endured captivity and those who remain missing in action. Reserving a place expresses a continuing obligation to remember them. The simplicity of the symbol makes its meaning accessible: someone who belongs among us is absent.

The black POW/MIA flag carries a related promise. Its origins lie in the efforts of families seeking recognition for loved ones held prisoner or declared missing during the Vietnam War. The familiar words “You Are Not Forgotten” became an enduring statement of concern for missing service members and the families awaiting answers.

For those families, uncertainty can extend across generations. Questions about where a person was lost, what happened, and whether remains can be recovered become part of family history. The work of accounting for missing personnel continues through research, recovery efforts, and identification, linking remembrance with an ongoing search for answers.

Within a museum filled with ships, weapons, and machinery, the empty chair directs attention toward an individual place left unfilled. It offers a quiet reminder that military history includes captivity, unresolved loss, and the responsibility to keep searching and remembering.