National League of Families

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The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. According the group's web site, its sole purpose is "to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia." The League's most prominent symbol is its POW/MIA flag.

The League was created by Sybil Stockdale and a group of POW/MIA wives in Coronado, California in 1967. Sybil Stockdale's husband, Navy Commander James Stockdale, was shot down in 1965 and she was determined to make the American people aware of the mistreatment of U.S. POWs. It was this group that finally convinced the U.S. government to change their official stance on the POW/MIA issue in 1969. Eventually, the organization was incorporated in Washington, D.C. on May 28, 1970. Its national office is currently run by one full-time employee and various volunteers.