We live across from a VFW lodge. They fly the flag.
Yes, seems to be popular in certain circles - bikers like it.
The design, which first appeared in 1971 when there really were POWs in Southeast Asia, was deliberately left untrademarked, so anyone is free to copy it and sell it, and I imagine it’s been a steady seller over the years. In my state, Massachusetts, it’s seen at a lot of city halls either on its own pole or flying below the American flag. Funnily enough, last time I was in Georgia and Tennessee I seldom saw it anywhere, in either flag or sticker form - where’s y’all’s sense of patriotism boys?
If you are interested in diving into the subject of those who didn’t come back from Vietnam, here’s a good place to start: www.miafacts.net
(Hmm, that seems to have been taken down, try this, which might be an archive:) http://67.199.126.80/
With regards to the American desire to return remains home, there is a fascinating book about this, although it’s not referring to POW/MIAs. By Susan Sheehan, the title is A Missing Plane. It’s about a WWII military transport that disappeared in the New Guinea jungle, and its fate was unknown for 38 years. When discovered, a major effort was made to find as many remains as possible, ID every bone, and return everything they could to the surviving families. It’s a well-written story, where the plane’s unlucky occupants are tracked for years before the accident, then the author followed up on the identification (meticulous and not easy to do) and final disposition. It will hold your interest, and I recommend it.
The author hypothesizes that in the future, there may be no more “unknown soldiers” because of advanced forensic techniques, and this was before DNA matching was a thing.
By May 1984, only one set of recovered American remains from Vietnam had not been fully identified. In a ceremony held at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on May 17, 1984, Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corps Sergeant Major Allan Jay Kellogg, Jr. designated the remains as the Vietnam War Unknown. The casket was then transported to Travis Air Force Base, California aboard the USS Brewton.
In California, the Vietnam War Unknown was loaded on a C-141B Starlifter and flown to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. The Vietnam War Unknown lay in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda from May 25 to 28, 1984. On Memorial Day, May 28, a military procession transported the casket to Arlington National Cemetery for burial. On Memorial Day 1984, President Ronald Reagan presided over the interment ceremony at Arlington. In his eulogy, Reagan assured the audience that the government would continue looking for the Vietnam War’s missing in action (MIA) personnel. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War Unknown would lay at rest at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for almost 14 years.
The Department of Defense and civilian partners continued working to identify remains recovered from Vietnam. Through these efforts, **they reviewed evidence that suggested the Vietnam War Unknown was likely Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, a pilot who had been shot down in 1972. At the request of Blassie’s family, the Department of Defense exhumed the remains from the Vietnam Unknown’s crypt on May 14, 1998. Using DNA testing, scientists positively identified the remains as those of Blassie. In accordance with the wishes of his family, Blassie was reinterred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.
The crypt designated for the Vietnam War Unknown remains vacant.
A somewhat relayed question:
If a soldier is held as a POW for 30 years by a foreign government are they considered to be on active duty for the full 30 years and be entitled for their full back pay for the entire time of imprisonment when they are released and returned to the US?
Thanks, @Dewey_Finn and @ratatoskK . I had no idea.