THE WALL OF FACES

Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Dean Gosen, Served with Attack Squadron 23 (VA-23), Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19), USS Ticonderoga, Task Force 77 (TF-77), 7th Fleet.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. It remains my fervent hope you will be returned home after the passage of so many years.

Never forget.

Semper Fortis

The Department of Defense conducted ceremonies at the Pentagon and at Hickam AFB on Friday, 18 September 2020 in commemoration of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,586 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Director (Maj. Gen, USAFR, ret) Kelly McKeague of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) also recorded a separate video message to Gold Star MIA families. Additionally, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) produced a “virtual” event on 18 Sep. Since the 2019 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 1 Vietnam War MIA. Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Dean Gosen, USNA Class of 1959, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 2 graduates from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class of 1959 who is still MIA. The other USNA 1959 graduate who remains MIA is Lt. Col. Glenn Morrison, USAF. As of the date of this ceremony, there are 55 USNA graduates still MIA in Southeast Asia (SEA) from the Vietnam War. They account for 32% of the 169 men from Annapolis who made the ultimate sacrifice in SEA during the Vietnam War.

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Pentagon ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766486/defense-officials-recognize-prisoners-war-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to the DoD/DVIDS video for the Hickam AFB ceremony:
https://www.dvidshub.net/video/766491/admiral-commemorates-prisoners-war-and-missing-service-members-ceremony

This is the link to DPAA Director McKeague’s video statement:
https://vimeo.com/454474340

This is the link to the VVMF virtual remembrance: https://www.vvmf.org/POWMIA-2020/

The Department of Defense conducted a ceremony at the Pentagon on Friday, 20 September 2019 in recognition of POW/MIA Recognition Day. Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Nordquist remembered the 1,587 MIAs from the Vietnam War as well as all those still unaccounted for from WWII, the Korean War, the Cold War and other conflicts. Since the 2018 Ceremony, DPAA has positively identified 7 Vietnam War MIAs. Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Dean Gosen, USNA Class of 1959, is one of those 1,587 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of two graduates from his U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class of 1959 who is still MIA. The other USNA 1959 MIA is Lt. Col. Glenn Morrison, USAF.

This is the link to the DoD story about the ceremony:

https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1967474/prisoners-of-war-missing-in-action-remembered-at-pentagon-ceremony/

This is the link to the C-Span video of the ceremony:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?464524-1/pentagon-hosts-national-powmia-recognition-day-ceremony