The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, commonly known as the National League of POW/MIA Families or the League, is an American
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
humanitarian organization
An aid agency, also known as development charity, is an organization dedicated to distributing aid. Many professional aid organisations exist, both within government, between governments as multilateral donors and as private voluntary organization ...
that is concerned with the
Vietnam War POW/MIA issue The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the tre ...
. According to the group's web site, its sole purpose is "to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
in Southeast Asia." The League's most prominent symbol is its famous
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
.
The League's national office, based in
Falls Church, Virginia
Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...
, is managed by one full-time employee and various volunteers. To date, more than sixteen hundred U.S. servicemen are still listed as Missing in Action in the Vietnam War and efforts continue by certain departments of the U.S. government and the National League of Families to ascertain the fate of these missing service members. Debate continues as to whether or not the efforts by the U.S. government, the Vietnamese government in Hanoi and other governments historically involved in the war have been, or continue to be, sufficient regarding the effort to find these missing soldiers, pilots, airmen and sailors.
The National League of Families continues to work at keeping the pressure on both Washington and Hanoi to bring complete resolution to this issue on behalf of each family with a loved one still missing in Vietnam.
History
![SybilBaileyStockdale](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/SybilBaileyStockdale.jpg)
The National League of POW/MIA Families' origins date to groups created by
Sybil Stockdale
Sybil Elizabeth Stockdale (; November 25, 1924 – October 10, 2015) was an American campaigner for families of Americans missing in South East Asia.
Sybil was the founder and first national coordinator of the National League of Families of ...
and a group of POW/MIA wives in 1966 in
Coronado, California
Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 24,697 at the ...
. Sybil Stockdale's husband, Navy Commander
James Stockdale
James Bond "Jim" Stockdale (December 23, 1923 – July 5, 2005) was a United States Navy vice admiral and aviator, awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War, during which he was a prisoner of war for over seven years.
Stockdale was the mos ...
, was shot down in 1965 and she was determined to make the American people aware of the mistreatment of U.S. POWs. Years later Evelyn Grubb became involved because she was frustrated with the lack of information from federal officials.
It was these groups that finally convinced the U.S. government to change their official stance on the POW/MIA issue in 1969.
The National League of Families was incorporated nationally in 1967 and later in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, on May 28, 1970.
[Grubb and Jose, ''You Are Not Forgotten'', .]
Another notable member of the league during the war was
Joe McCain
Joseph Pinckney McCain II (born April 26, 1942) is an American stage actor, newspaper reporter, and the brother of the late U.S. Senator and two-time presidential candidate John McCain.
Early life and education
Joseph Pinckney McCain II was bo ...
, brother of imprisoned U.S. Navy pilot and future U.S. Senator and presidential candidate
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
.
[McCain and Salter, ''Faith of My Fathers'', pp. 290–291.] The league gained increased international attention in 1972 when ''
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
'' ran a feature article on the organization.
The article started with a full page photograph of Major Wilmer Newlin Grubb of the United States Air Force, the husband of National League of Families President Evelyn Grubb, from after he had been shot down in 1966 and taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese Army.
Evelyn Grubb by then was also serving as the League's representative to the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and the
Paris Peace Talks
The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...
, pressing for better accountability, treatment and the speedy return of American MIA and POW soldiers, pilots, airmen, and sailors in the Vietnam War, as well as better policies related to their families.
Grubb did not find out until after the war was over that her husband had died shortly after being shot down.
In the 1980s a different group, the
National Alliance Of Families For the Return of America's Missing Servicemen, was formed as a split-off by National League of Families members over a disagreement with then League President Ann Mills Griffith over tactics the organization should employ in pursuing its goals, and disagreements about the status of missing servicemen by the 1980s.
[Keating, ''Prisoners of Hope'', p. 52.] Compared to the league, the National Alliance takes a more activist, radical stance, especially with regards towards the
Vietnam War POW/MIA issue The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the tre ...
and belief in the existence of "live prisoners" in Southeast Asia.
[McConnell and Schweitzer, ''Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives'', p. 390.]
Flag
Then-League President and POW wife
Evelyn Grubb Evelyn Fowler Grubb (August 9, 1931 – December 28, 2005) was the wife of an American Vietnam War Air Force pilot who became a prisoner of war, she was also a co-founder and then later served as the national coordinator of the National League ...
oversaw the development of the now-famous National League of Families'
POW/MIA flag
The National League of Families POW/MIA flag, often referred to as the POW/MIA flag, was adopted in 1972 and consists of the official emblem of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia in white on a bl ...
in January 1972.
The original design for the flag was created by the artist
Newt Heisley
Newton Foust Heisley (November 9, 1920 – May 14, 2009) was an American commercial artist who was responsible for the design of the POW/MIA flag adopted by the National League of Families, and officially recognized by the United States Congress ...
for
Annin Flagmakers
Annin Flagmakers is an American corporation based in Roseland, New Jersey. The flagmaker was founded by Alexander Annin in 1847 and incorporated on January 10, 1910. Annin Flagmakers produces American flags, state flags and national flags of all ...
in 1971 after Mary Hoff, wife of MIA Lt. Commander Michael Hoff U.S.N., recognized the need for a symbol for American POW/MIAs. Evelyn Grubb was then also a driving force in gaining the flag's adoption by the military, the U.S. Postal Service and other federal service agencies.
Eventually the flag became widely popular and adoption of its use began to spread on its own, as the flag became a national symbol of Vietnam war remembrance.
The flag, with the now widely recognized "You Are Not Forgotten, POW/MIA" logo is still flown in front of all U.S. post offices, all major U.S. military installations, and most fire stations, police stations, many state level agencies and also most veterans organizations chapters across the United States today, and is almost always present at most local and national veterans events in the United States.
The flag is consequently still visible to millions of Americans on a daily basis.
See also
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Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
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Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (often referred to as JPAC) was a joint task force within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) whose mission was to account for Americans who are listed as Prisoners of War (POW), or Missing in Act ...
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List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (1966–67)
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List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (1968–69)
*
List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (1970–71)
*
List of United States servicemembers and civilians missing in action during the Vietnam War (1972–75)
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Vietnam War POW/MIA issue The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the tre ...
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Video of C-SPAN special segment, Author Carol Jose speaks about book on the National League of Families
{{DEFAULTSORT:National League Of POW/MIA Families
501(c)(3) organizations
1970 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Advocacy groups in the United States
American prisoners of war
Charities based in Virginia
Lobbying organizations in the United States
Nonpartisan organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in Falls Church, Virginia
Organizations established in 1970
POW/MIA advocacy
United States in the Vietnam War
United States military support organizations
Vietnam War POW/MIA issues