June 5, 2019
Page 13
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O PINION
MCS Still in
Business
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$50.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or more
$30.00 each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$50.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
and Hallway
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $30.00
Heavily Soiled Area:
$10.00 each area
(Requiring Pre-Spray)
Let’s Rethink the POW/MIA Flag
The banner
nurses old
wounds
k evin b asl
You’ve probably seen
that black and white
POW/MIA flag flying somewhere nearby. The
stark banner dedicated to American prisoners
of war and those missing in action.
If a new bipartisan bill passes, you may see
it more often.
The bill — backed by Democratic senators
Elizabeth Warren and Kyrsten Sinema and
Republicans John Thune and Tom Cotton —
would require prominent federal properties to
fly that flag all year, as opposed to on specific
holidays like this past Memorial Day. With its
stark image of a war prisoner and the words
“you are not forgotten,” it would become the
only permanent fixture alongside Old Glory.
I’m a veteran myself. If people choose to
fly the POW/MIA flag on private property,
that’s their right. However, the controversial
history of that flag ought to make us question
whether it should be displayed on federal and
state properties.
As a teenager, I remember the POW/MIA
flag conjuring scenes from Rambo and The
Deer Hunter. I pictured gaunt soldiers endur-
ing forced labor and torture thousands of miles
away in remote jungle camps. How could the
by
U.S. government leave our troops behind in
Vietnam? Why didn’t our military go in and
take them back?
This was the very sentiment the flag was
meant to conjure. Created in the early 1970s
by a group called the National League of
POW/MIA Families, the now-iconic im-
age would adorn t-shirts, bracelets, posters,
bumper stickers, and more.
The problem? There’s no solid evidence
POWs were actually left behind.
Interestingly, the Nixon administration had
only introduced the new “POW/MIA” desig-
nation several years earlier. All troops “miss-
ing in action” were now considered possible
prisoners of war. This made it seem like there
were more POWs than there actually were.
This helped justify continuing the war until
North Vietnam accounted for all POW/MIAs.
And groups like the National League of Fam-
ilies, led by relatives of POW/MIA service
members, trumpeted the cause.
Yet all known POWs were returned to the
U.S. following the Paris Peace Accords in
1973. Several exhaustive studies, including
one led by Vietnam veteran senators John
Kerry, Bob Smith, and John McCain (himself
one of the POWs returned in 1973), turned up
no evidence.
Historians like H. Bruce Franklin and Mi-
chael J. Allen have written books on the issue,
disproving the many theories, sightings, and
photographs that have emerged purporting to
show prisoners still in Vietnam.
At best, the POW/MIA flag has become yet
another ill-informed, if well-intentioned, “sup-
port our troops” symbol. At worst, it’s an issue
exploited by politicians, subjecting families of
service members whose bodies were not recov-
ered to unnecessary emotional hardship.
It foments bitterness toward Vietnam, a
country the U.S. normalized relations with
over two decades ago. It distracts us from
current issues affecting veterans and service
members, including homelessness, suicide,
poverty, service-linked cancers, and water
contamination on military bases.
Instead of making it a law to display a con-
troversial flag, Congress ought to properly
fund the VA and fill its over 45,000 staff va-
cancies so veterans can get the care they need.
While they’re at it, they ought to close the
hypocritical, illegal U.S. prison at Guantana-
mo Bay, where our own county continues to
hold detainees without charge or trial.
And they should make sure military families
never have to endure another POW/MIA con-
troversy by preventing unnecessary U.S. wars
— an urgent consideration as the U.S. stumbles
toward wars with Iran and Venezuela.
Instead of nursing resentments over wars
past, let’s take care of our veterans today —
and stop the wars that lead so many to need
care in the first place.
Kevin Basl served in the U.S. Army, twice
deploying to Iraq. He’s a member of About
Face: Veterans Against the War and Veterans
for Peace
Area/Oriental Rug Cleaning
Regular Area Rugs
$25.00 Minimum
Wool Oriental Rugs
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UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
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Chair or Recliner:
$25.00 - $50.00
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services) : $5.00
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