I am also in contact with a person who has created a POW/MIA display at the Air Force Academy and at the Nixon Library. He is looking for original POW/MIA bracelets (the ones that VIVA put out originally) for each of the POWs/MIAs. His displays contain the clothing and memoribilia of our returned POWs and is highly thought of by their national group.
If anyone has one of those bracelets and the POW has returned and they want to do something special with the bracelet, I can see if he needs it for his display. I can also provide ways for people to return bracelets to returned POWs, if the POWs desire to receive them.
One of the best POW/MIA organizations in the USA is located in Missouri ... it is the P.O.W. Network run by Chuck and Mary Schantag. They have the most complete database of anybody (that's what the DoD says, too). Their internet address is:
It's about a Korean POW survivor, Johnnie Johnson, with the 24th Infantry, who had kept a list (risking his own survival if caught), of those that died while there...he felt it was important that a record be kept for the families.
That list, called the "Tiger Survivors List," has now been made public and Reader's Digest has made it available at its WebSite:
Also, for those families with questions or information regarding missing servicemen, you can write:
Defense POW/MIA OFFICE
2400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-2400
BITS 'N' PIECES -- February 14, 1998:
February 12th, 1998 - marked the 25th Anniversary of the start of Operation Homecoming. Operation Homecoming began on February 12th, 1973, when the first plane load of POWs left Hanoi.
For many of our readers, this is a bittersweet Anniversary. We rejoiced at the return of 591 of our Prisoners of War, but we still wait for word on loved ones categorized as Prisoners or Last Known Alive.
Mrs. Hoff found Mr. Rivkees very sympathetic to the POW/MIA issue; and he, along with Annin's advertising agency, designed a flag to represent our missing. Following League approval, the flags were manufactured for distribution.
The importance of the League's POW/MIA flag lies in its continued visibility, a constant reminder of the plight of America's POWs/MIAs. Other than "Old Glory," the League's POW/MIA flag is the only flag ever to fly over the White House, having been displayed in this place of honor on National POW/MIA Recognition Day since 1982.
On March 9, 1989, an official League flag, which flew over the White House for the 1988 "National POW/MIA Recognition Day," was installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda as a result of legislation passed overwhelmingly during the 100th Congress. In a demonstration of bipartisan Congressional support, the leadership of both Houses hosted the installation ceremony.
The League's POW/MIA flag is the only flag that has ever been displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where it will stand as a powerful symbol of national commitment to America's POWs/MIAs until the fullest possible accounting has been achieved for U.S. personnel still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
On August 10, 1990, the 101st Congress passed U.S. Public Law 101-355, which recognized the League's POW/MIA flag and designated it "as the symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing, and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the Nation."
With passage of Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act during the first term of the 105th Congress, the League's POW/MIA flag will fly each year on:
On the grounds or in the public lobbies of:
At the official offices of:
Courtesy of "THE POW/MIA INTERNETWORK"
1998
1998
Georgia Committee for POW/MIA, 770-973-8773
Ohio Chapter MIA-POW, 614-451-2405
1998