# POW-MIA flags: A nice idea whose time has passed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810 "2003-01-10T20:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/1 "2003-01-10T20:24:41Z")
I’m looking for facts more than opinions here so I put this in GQ, not IMHO or GD – and frankly I’d like to keep it that way. But the mods can move it if they like, natch. I have never followed this this topic very closely but I did grow up as the Vietnam War was ending, so I’ve been alive and aware for as long as the whole POW-MIA flag issue has been around. My sense was that soon after the VW there was a large grassroots contention – dare I say conspiracy theory – here in the USA that the North Vietnamese still held many American POWs which they refused to acknowledge or release. The POW-MIA flag was created to act as a reminder and rallying point for this contention. Well, it’s been about 30 years later and the flags are still flying all over America. But to the best of my recollection there has never been anything (other than a body identified here or discovered there) that comes close to validating the theory behind those flags. So, do people who rally under those flags still believe there are hordes of US servicemen in NV prison camps who have yet to be released? If so, is there solid evidence to back such a claim. Or have those flags merely evolved into generic icons of tribute and rememberance for all fallen and unfound VW vets? (If so, I think they should be retired or redesigned to be inclusive of the vets of all wars. But that’s just one Doper’s opinion.) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/2 "2003-01-10T21:32:23Z")
My grandfather thinks there are still POWs in _Russia_, not to mention Viet Nam. He’s very adamant about it and I’m not willing to debate the issue with him, but I gather that this belief is not based on evidence, but on a list of reasons why it’s _plausible_ that they would have the ability and the motivation to continue to hold American GIs. But mostly I think it stems from, dare I say it, the emotional damage that was done to him by his experience as a WWII POW. For his sake, I have a POW/MIA sticker, and my mom has a license plate frame on her car. We show them to honor those who sacrificed for their country, not because we think that there are POWs still being held today. So there are two sides of the coin. ---
**Author:** ![bradministrator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a698b9/32.png) [@bradministrator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bradministrator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/3 "2003-01-10T21:35:01Z")
And there’s a sizable number of people who believe (with some proof, apparently) that the Iraqis hold a downed US pilot from the Gulf War. [Washington Times article from this morning.](http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030110-48937660.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/4 "2003-01-10T22:21:15Z")
Whether there are still living VietNam war POWs or not, there are thousands of families whose military relatives never came home and were never accounted for. I wear an MIA bracelet because as long as one person knows a missing man’s name, he won’t be forgotten. Oh, and I don’t believe the North Vietnamese made anything close to a full disclosure of the prisoners they had when the war ended. As to whether any of the unaccounted for POWs is still alive, who can say? Until they’re all accounted for (and that’ll never happen - there are unaccounted for MIA soldiers from WWI and WWII), it’s still a relevant issue in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/5 "2003-01-10T22:25:12Z")
Oh, and **Bradministrator** , that Gulf War pilot’s name is Cmdr. Jeffrey Speicher - the first pilot shot down during the war. The wreckage of his F/A-18 was found a few years ago, and apparently evidence at the crash site contradicted the account the Iraqis gave on what happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/6 "2003-01-10T22:34:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kilt-wearin’ man \* > **Whether there are still living VietNam war POWs or not, there are thousands of families whose military relatives never came home and were never accounted for.** But there are many more whose military relatives were confirmed killed in action, and there is no flag to honor their memory. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/7 "2003-01-10T22:36:30Z")
I recently interviewed Admiral Stockdale, one of the more famous Vietnam POWs. To my surprise, he stated that he didn’t think that there were any American POWs still alive in Vietnam. he thought that the lifestyle (no medical care, bad food, lcak of resistance) would kill most captive Americans in the countryside\> He also felt that there would be no upside, but a huge downside for the Vietnamese if an American was found. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/8 "2003-01-10T22:49:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*But there are many more whose military relatives were confirmed killed in action, and there is no flag to honor their memory. \*\* Hmmm. I was led to believe [this flag](http://www.usflag.org/) does just that. I must be mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/9 "2003-01-10T23:00:00Z")
Apparently Ducker’s flag is not sufficent to honor the POW/MIA’s though. ---
**Author:** ![Howard\_Juneau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@Howard\_Juneau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Howard_Juneau)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/10 "2003-01-11T00:16:31Z")
IIRC, the POW/MIA flag is the only other flag (besides Old Glory) to have ever flown over the nation’s capitol… ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/11 "2003-01-11T01:02:28Z")
> [@](#): > > IIRC, the POW/MIA flag is the only other flag (besides Old Glory) to have ever flown over the nation’s capitol… Didn’t the British flag fly over the Cap. durign the War of 1812 when they burnt down the White House? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/12 "2003-01-11T01:27:19Z")
As mentioned before, both of the OP alternatives are true – there are still people who believe there is ongoing deliberate hiding of past POW/MIAs, AND those that hold it as a symbol honoring those names never accounted for, who don’t even have the Wall. Which BTW doesn’t exclude the possibility that there may have been no _living_ POW/MIAs post-1974 but that various governments (here and abroad) would rather not dig into _what DID happen_ to the missing (e.g. death by mistreatment; bungling of rescue operations; friendly fire) The flag/emblem can still be considered a call for a full accounting – anywhere that any American servicemen may have gone MIA. A sort of reminder that we’ve fallen short of our stated principle to “leave none behind”. I do advisory work for a member of the PR Legislature and she keeps a POW/MIA flag alongside the PR and USA flags in her office. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pow-mia-flags-a-nice-idea-whose-time-has-passed/147810/13 "2003-01-11T01:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*But there are many more whose military relatives were confirmed killed in action, and there is no flag to honor their memory. \*\* The difference is that they had a burial and closure. POW/MIA’s received no such thing, and so a flag flies to remember those people.