Bethlehem Town Board votes to fly POW/MIA flag

POW/MIA will be second non-government flag to be flown

DELMAR –  At its May 8, 2024 meeting, the Town of Bethlehem’s board of trustees unanimously adopted a resolution to fly the POW/MIA flag at Bethlehem Town Hall this May in recognition of Armed Services Day (May 18) and Memorial Day (May 26).   At its April 24 meeting, the Town unanimously adopted for the first time a flag display policy.  That policy requires the board to pass a resolution to fly a flag at town hall other than the U.S., State or Bethlehem flags.

The POW/MIA is the second flag approved by the Board to be flown under the Town’s new flag display policy.  In April, the Town Board had voted to designate June as Pride month and to display the Pride flag as part of that celebration next month.  No other non-government flags have been flown since the new policy was adopted.

In adopting the resolution to fly the POW/MIA flag, the Town Board’s resolution noted that in 1982, this flag became the only flag other than the American flag to fly over the White House in Washington D.C. and stands as s “a powerful symbol of our national commitment to our POW/MIAs.”    Ostensibly, the board included that language to meet the recently adopted flag display’s limitation to flags “commemorating events or observances that have observance days already declared by Proclamation of the President of the United States or by Act of Congress.”

Town Supervisor David VanLuven had previously said  the flag display policy was adopted as “a place for our town government to express its views.”  As stated in the resolution, the MIA/POW flag will be flown as Bethlehem’s commitment “to showing our respect and gratitude to those Americans who are prisoners of war or who are classified as missing in action”, as well as “keeping the faith with these Americans and families” to “continue to remember and commemorate their sacrifices.”

According to the Town’s resolution, more than 81,000 men and women who served in the military remain missing.

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