Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    The History of the POW/MIA Flag

    By Lauren Finnegan | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Wed, Feb 1, 2012
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
    Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor

    The well-known symbol that graces the flag representing prisoners of war and those missing in action has been altered by a pro-marijuana legalization group called "Veterans for Weed," according to the Army Times.

    The original image, which shows a soldier with a prison tower in the background, has been changed to show a soldier smoking weed and the image also uses the acronym VFW. The VFW acronym is famously used for the group "Veterans of Foreign War," but in this instance it is being used to represent "Veterans for Weed."

    The VFW and the National League of POW/MIA Families have a long history; here is some more information about them.

    * The POW/MIA flag was the idea of Mary Hoffa, wife of a service member who is MIA and also a member of the National League of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, according to Task Force Omega.

    * When Hoffa read an article about a company, Annin and Company, making a flag for the People's Republic of China when it joined the United Nations, she decided to contact the company to see if they would make a flag for POW/MIA.

    * Newt Heisley, who worked for Annin and Company, is the artist behind the image that was designed for the POW/MIA flag.

    * He used the silhouette of his son who had come back from Marine boot camp with the effects of hepatitis and designed the image in black and white because that is how all advertising sketches start, according to Homeofheroes.com.

    * The flag was made the symbol for POW/MIA on Aug. 10, 1990, by Congress.

    * Congress made the third Friday of September POW/MIA day, which is a day of national observance, according to timeanddate.com.

    * There is also a POW/MIA toast that is usually done at military functions. The toast involves a table set for one that symbolizes the service members who are missing from the celebrations, according to the Air Force Association.

    * As of Dec. 1, there are 1,679 Americans still missing, according to "The National League of POW/MIA Families."

    Lauren Finnegan graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in political science and has an insider's perspective on the military because of her role as a military wife who has lived around the country.

     

    1 comment

    • LEHNST
      LEHNST  •  Southfield, Michigan  •  3 mths ago
      I did a two year tour of beautiful Vietnam and started a wonderful relationship with maryjane. I like her so much that I brought her home with me. When I needed help forgetting the war, she was there. She help me sleep when the memories would not let me and she help me be with all those normal people who did not know what hunting and killing people everyday was like. She reminded me to eat when I would often forget. She taught me to trust and laugh again. She was gentle medicine for for a war worn 20 year old boy. She may have very well saved my life. Fly the symbol of maryjane right along side of the VFW flag as far as I am concerned. I am 62 years old and I give maryjane a shout out whenever I can.
     Post a comment
    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...

    US News »

    • Astronauts float inside SpaceX Dragon capsule Irene Klotz
      The SpaceX Falcon 9 test rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral

      CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch and floated inside a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon capsule on Saturday, the first privately owned spaceship to reach the orbital outpost, NASA said. Running ahead of schedule, station commander Oleg Kononenko …

    • Gunman in Indiana standoff dies after shooting himself
      Snipers sit trained on a real estate office where authorities said a gunman was holding an unknown number of hostages in Valparaiso

      VALPARAISO, Indiana (Reuters) - A gunman took hostages in an Indiana real estate office on Friday, then released them after an eight-hour standoff and fatally shot himself in the head, authorities said. The gunman died at a hospital in Valparaiso, Indiana, about 40 miles southeast of Chicago, police said. "We believe there …

    • New Jersey man charged in Etan Patz death after 33 years Joseph Ax
      Hernandez is arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court via video link seen here in this courtroom sketch in New York

      NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man who police say confessed to strangling Etan Patz was charged with second-degree murder on Friday, 33 years after the 6-year-old boy vanished from his New York neighborhood and soon changed the way the nation responds to missing children. Pedro Hernandez, 51, who worked as a stock boy in a small …

    • Penn State ex-president sues over Sandusky emails: report
      Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State football defensive coordinator, arrives for a hearing at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

      (Reuters) - Pennsylvania State University's former president filed suit on Friday to force the school to turn over emails that are relevant to its probe of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal, the Centre Daily Times newspaper reported. Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, goes on trial next month on …

    • Subtropical Storm Beryl forms off South Carolina coast

      MIAMI (Reuters) - Subtropical Storm Beryl formed off the South Carolina coast on Friday and forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for parts of the Southeastern U.S. coast. Beryl had top sustained winds of 45 miles per hour and was in the Atlantic about 305 miles east of Charleston, …

     
    One money saving tip you probably haven't tried
    Add your ideas and help make it happen. Join the conversation.
    Episode 11: Hard times for Hometown Hardware
    Should Bill and Donna take on more risk to boost their business?
    One small business owner surprises Bill and Donna
    How Josh's comment on a Remake America video laid the groundwork for something bigger.
    Learn more about Remake America »