They were captured by the enemy, imprisoned, tortured, and forced into conditions no human should have to ever face. Some warriors never made it back at all. We owe it to them, and their families, to never stop searching until every missing soul is brought home. This is one commitment that doesn't have an expiration date.

Today, on National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, we honor every American service member who endured and survived those horrors. No sacrifice like theirs goes without a cost. Months or years of anxiety, grief, and uncertainty fell on their loved ones too. Holding on to hope with no guarantee there would ever be closure is excruciating. That deserves its own recognition.

Right here in Fort Pierce, the Navy UDT-SEAL Museum preserves one of those stories. In August 1944, Chief Howard "Red" Roeder, Robert Black, and John MacMahon swam off the USS Burrfish to conduct reconnaissance on a Japanese-held island. No one came back. Captured, moved to Palau, and executed by Japanese forces, their remains have yet to be recovered. Their brothers had to leave without them. That mission, and those three men, serve as a reason for why this museum exists and for why I keep the pressure on formalizing its national designation.