The POW bracelet was conceived in 1970 by Carol Cates Brown and Kay Hunter, members of the California-based student group Voices in Vital America (VIVA),[1] with the intention that American prisoners of war in Southeast Asia not be forgotten.[2] Those who wore the bracelets vowed to leave them on until the serviceman named on the bracelet, or their remains, were returned to the United States,[3] with the idea of returning the bracelet to the returning prisoner.[4][5][6]
The bracelets, which cost 30 cents to produce, sold for $2.50 or $3.00 and increased VIVA's income to more than $7 million by 1973. Between 1970 and 1973, approximately 4 million bracelets were distributed.[2] Politicians, astronauts, entertainers, and models wore the bracelets.[3]
Hawley, Thomas M. The Remains of War: Bodies, Politics, and the Search for American Soldiers Unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005, p. 51.
Hesse, Rayner W. Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 200, p. 30.
Holsinger, M. P. (1999). War and American popular culture: A historical encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, pp. 409–410.
Wiest, A. A., Barbier, M., & Robins, G. (2010). America and the Vietnam War: Re-examining the culture and history of a generation. New York: Routledge, p. 181
External links
Media related to POW bracelet at Wikimedia Commons
