POW/MIA Bracelets

History of the POW/MIA Bracelet

Many who know about the League learned about us from POW/MIA bracelets, which originated and were worn extensively in the 1970s, and continuously since by POW/MIA family members, veterans, and other interested Americans. The following historical account was written by Carol Bates Brown, one of the bracelet's originators:

"I was the National Chairman of the POW/MIA Bracelet Campaign for VIVA (Voices In Vital America), the Los Angeles-based student organization that produced and distributed the bracelets during the Vietnam War. Entertainers Bob Hope and Martha Raye served with me as honorary co-chairmen.

"The idea for the bracelets was started by a fellow college student, Kay Hunter, and me, as a way to remember American prisoners of war suffering in captivity in Southeast Asia. In late 1969, television personality Bob Dornan — who several years later was elected to the U.S. Congress — introduced us and several other members of VIVA to three wives of missing pilots. They thought our student group could assist them in drawing public attention to the prisoners and missing in Vietnam.

"We considered various ideas including circulating petitions and letter-writing campaigns, but felt we needed something more lasting — a reminder that could be worn daily. The idea of the bracelet emerged: a simple metal band engraved with a serviceman's name, rank, and the date he was declared missing or captured.

"The bracelets were distributed beginning in 1970 and spread rapidly across the country. Americans wore them as a pledge: to continue wearing the bracelet until the serviceman named on it either came home alive or was accounted for. For those whose serviceman was never returned or accounted for, the bracelets continue to be worn today."