VETERANS PRESS: History of the POW/MIA flag
Courtesy photo
In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, the wife of a U.S. military officer listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War, developed the idea for a national flag to remind every American of the U.S. service members whose fates were never accounted for during the war. Mrs. Hoff went to the Annis Flag Company, who assigned the task to their advertising agency in New Jersey.
Newt Heisley, a former World War II veteran pilot and creative director at the agency, was honored and inspired when the design of the flag emblem became his project. The flag depicts a black and white image of a gaunt silhouette, a strand of barbed wire and an ominous watchtower. Some claim the silhouette is a profile of Heisley’s son, who contracted hepatitis while training in Marine boot camp. The virus ravaged his body, leaving his features hollow and emaciated. Heisley saw the stark image of American service members held captive under harsh conditions.
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