OPINION
ARIZONA — In accordance with Arizona Revised Statute 1-307, today is Prisoners of war remembrance day.

Subsection B. of the law requires:

The governor shall make proclamation of prisoners of war remembrance day to commemorate the sacrifices of men and women who suffered captivity in foreign lands while in the service of our country. The governor shall recommend that teachers and students of the schools of this state observe this day with appropriate exercises and shall encourage citizens to contemplate the plight of Americans who have been held captive of an enemy nation.

We searched the official web site of the Governor of the Great State of Arizona and his Facebook page. We found no proclamation nor any information on “…the plight of Americans who have been held captive of an enemy nation.”

Looking over the web site of the Arizona Legislature, we found that Senator Lesko handed out 60 dictionaries, but no word on Prisoners of War.

This is an absolute disgrace. Thus, it falls on us to tell you the plight of POWs.

First we honor those faithfully served our nation during a most difficult time in their lives. We pray for your continued health.

The most disgraceful treatment of returning prisoners of war by the United States government has to be the treatment of those returning from the Vietnam war. Many do not know, nor seem to care, that those veterans are denied access to the records of their own debriefing. They are still held classified after 40-years!

You would think that former POW John McCain would be on the front lines defending the rights of other POWs in this matter. Unfortunately this is not the case. He is one of the loudest voices in keeping these records secret and withheld from the patriots who served their country when future presidents and actors ran to foreign lands.

It is still the wee-hours of the morn. Perhaps statements are forthcoming. If they are, we hope that they will include remonstrances to the national government to allow Vietnam POWs access to their records.