A ceremony to commemorate National POW/MIA Recognition Day will be held on the South Lawn of the Alabama State Capitol at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The ceremony will honor and remember the brave men and women who endured the hardships as Prisoners of War, the Missing in Action who are still unaccounted for, and pay special recognition to their families who bore the cost of war.

Brig. Gen. Jeff Newton, U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard (Ret.), who serves as Assistant Commissioner of Operations and Chief of Staff at the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, will give the keynote address. He has  40 years of military service with the Alabama Air National Guard, retiring as Director Joint Staff, Alabama Military Department, and leading multiple major military functions, including logistics management, cyber security assistance, domestic support operations during state emergencies, risk management and legislative affairs. Brig. Gen. Newton is a graduate of the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base; Space Executive Course, National Security Space Institute; and the Joint and Combined War Fighting School, National Defense University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from Samford University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Auburn University.

The ceremony will include the raising of the POW/MIA Flag, feature patriotic music, a wreath laying ceremony, and the playing of Taps. Traditionally held on the third Friday in September, the ceremony was moved to Saturday to accommodate and encourage public attendance.

The observance is one of six days of the year that Congress has mandated flying of the POW/MIA flag at federal buildings. The Alabama Legislature passed legislation in 2008 that allows for the POW/MIA flag to be flown at state buildings as well.