The Prisoners of War Missing in Action (POW/MIA) flag is one of the most recognizable military symbols of the Vietnam War era. It holds significant meaning in San Diego, particularly for the military wives who fought to bring their captured husbands home.
A new memorial dedicated to these women, part of the national organization known as the "League of Wives," was unveiled Friday at Star Park Circle in Coronado.
The statue features four women who represent the League and includes a gap for a fifth person to stand in, symbolizing support for their cause. The nonprofit group behind the statue's inspiration is the League of Wives Memorial Project, which is comprised of current military spouses.
The women of the memorial project said they wanted to honor the women before them, who took extraordinary measures during the Vietnam War era to make sure their husbands were brought home.
"They went viral in their own way," said Alexia Palacios-Peters, Chairperson of the League of Wives Memorial Project.
Palacios-Peters said this group of women in San Diego came forward at a time when women's voices were often behind the scenes, using the media to highlight the inhumane treatment of POWs in Vietnam, many of whom were their husbands.
Many POWs went missing during the Vietnam War for at least eight years.
"These women came forward and defied the government and went national with what was happening with their spouses," Palacios-Peters said. "They sought the humane treatment of what was going on with their spouses."
Among the 11 military spouses attending the memorial dedication is Mary "Pat" Mearns, whose husband was a POW who died in Vietnam after being missing for about a decade.
She is now one of the last surviving members of the League of Wives.
"We women were the first just coming out and doing the things important for change," Mearns said. "Getting people to listen to us, getting Congress to listen to us, the president to listen to us, and that's what [this statue] means to me."
Mearns worked alongside another female pillar in the San Diego community, Sybil Stockdale.
Stockdale, who is the woman at the forefront of the statue, led a group of women, including Mearns, to confront President Nixon in December 1969 about the administration’s stance on POW/MIA.
On Friday, hundreds were seen wearing pink to honor the pink outfit Stockdale wore when she addressed President Nixon.
Stockdale also worked with naval intelligence in sending coded messages to POW spouses, helping to create the symbol that was the key to unlocking the coded messages.
"Whenever they sent a message to their POW spouses, and there was a picture of a rose inside the letter, their POW spouse knew that there was a coded message and they needed to soak the paper in liquid to reveal the coded message," Palacios-Peters said.
Those coded messages helped bring 591 prisoners of war home during "Operation Homecoming," which marks its 51st anniversary in 2024.
"These women actually created the POW/MIA flag that we see flown across the country today," Palacios-Peters said.
"I myself am a military spouse," Palacios-Peters said. "My husband has been active for 20 years, and the things that my contemporaries and I have been able to experience as military spouses directly relate to what these women did."
