Mt. Soledad to mark POW/MIA Recognition Day with ceremony Saturday

A former POW attends a ceremony at Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial. (Photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego) The Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial will host a commemorative ceremony for POW/MIA Recognition Day Saturday at Mount Soledad Memorial Park in La Jolla. The event, beginning at 10 a.m. in partnership with the San Diego Patriot Guard Riders and VFW Pacific Beach Post 5985, will include a veteran honor ceremony and plaque dedication for Vietnam-era Army veteran and Patriot Guard Regional Ride Capt. Lorenzo Lizarraga. At 11:30 a.m., VFW Post 5985 will honor all prisoners of war and those still missing in action with a plaque dedication for Newton Foust Heisley, designer of the original POW/MIA flag. A flag bearing Heisley’s signature will also be flown. National POW/MIA Recognition Day was established in 1979 to honor U.S. service members who were prisoners of war or remain missing in action. Observed annually on the third Friday in September, it was born out of efforts during the Vietnam War to raise awareness of those unaccounted for. The POW/MIA flag designed by Heisley has since become a lasting symbol of the cause.