THE WALL OF FACES

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

Dear Lt John Prudhomme, Thank you for your service as a Pilot on the USS ENTERPRISE, and for graduating from Annapolis. You are still MIA. Please come home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Independence Day is soon. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Be at peace.

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 John Douglas Prudhomme, USNA Class of 1961, is one of those 1,586 MIAs unaccounted for in Southeast Asia from the Vietnam War. He is one of 3 graduates from his U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis class who is still MIA. The other 2 USNA Class of 1961 MIAs are LT Frank Brown and LTJG Terence Murphy. 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/

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) website at the below link/URL, the MIA status of Lieutenant John Douglas Prudhomme, USNA Class of 1961, is Non-Recoverable:

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYkMEAW

As of the date of this entry, there are 1,584 Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and contiguous waters from the Vietnam War. DPAA's most current list (5 March 2021) is at this link/URL on the DPAA website:

https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/VietnamAccounting/pmsea_una_ALL_20210305.pdf

There are also 352 Sailors MIA. DPAA's most current list (5 March 2021) is at this link/URL on the DPAA website:

https://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/VietnamAccounting/pmsea_una_NAVY_20210305.