European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Bracelets for a cause by Bob Sipchen los Angeles times Ouglas Condit with Ann Cufley Ahen she graduated from High school to was there when she got married there when she gave birth 1 hat curly has Novet met Condit and has Nittlo Hope she Ever will is now beside the Point i or More than 20 years she has worn a Bracelet engraved with the name of the Pilot and the Date he was shot Down Over Vietnam. So Curley feels not Only that she knows the Man on her wrist but that he is a part of her. And even As America s collective memory of the War gradually Lades into television and film images Curley and thousands of others still Wear thin Metal bracelets bearing the name of an american prisoner of War or Soldier who is missing in action hoping they say that they can make themselves and others remember that not All of the War s Loose ends have been lied up people involved with the pow Mia cause have pow bracelets engraved with the names of missing american serve remembers adorn the wrists of those unwilling to forget the lost victims of the Vietnam War. Different recollections of when the bracelets first appeared some say they wore them in the late 1960s, when the . Government changed its position of asking families to keep the Issue quiet. But rep. Robert k. Dornan r-calif., a Pilot in the Vietnam War. Traces the origin of the bracelets to Fob 7.1970. Then the Host of a new los Angeles television show Dornan was already wearing a cylindrical Bracelet made by montagnard tribes people when the wives of american pos appeared on his show after the show he said a 16 year old girl came up to him in the audience and asked about the Bracelet. The two ideas fused. Originally distributed by an organization called Victory in Vietnam association the bracelets became a sign of one s alignment in the country s widening Hawk or Dove Domestic Battles. Soon however the now defunct organization changed its name to voices in vital America and. According to people familiar with the cause the bracelets eventually became less politicized with concern for the Fate of the men who were missing overshadowing the political issues of Why they were in Vietnam to begin with. Dornan said that Viva sold 10.000 of the bracelets in 1970,350,000 in 1971 and 3 million in 1972. More than 10 million were in circulation during the last Days of the War he said. Various factions of the pow cause still make and sell pow watches bumper stickers and Christmas ornaments. And Over the years numerous causes right and left including the National organization for women. Right to life groups and the save soviet jewry committee have adopted name bracelets As a Symbol. Dornan wears bracelets stamped with the names of hostages in Beirut and the names of Soviel dissidents. But if is the original pow Mia Bracelet that has endured As a Symbol second in recognize ability Only to religious emblems such As the Cross or Star of David according to the Library of Congress Dornan said. The first bracelets were Nickel plated. Later ones were made of stainless steel. Many of those sold now for $3 50 to $5 Are steel Hough some people have them custom made in Sterling Silver or Gold. And with 2,382 pos and mias still unaccounted for the Lour or More current distributors of the bracelets still sell hundreds each Day according to a spokesperson for the Washington based National league of families of american prisoners and missing in Southeast Asia which along Wilh at least one other organization receives support from the sales for Curley who now works Lor a Vietnam veterans organization in Wilkes Barre pa., the Bracelet serves As a reminder. I did t feel As strongly about the pow Issue until i had my she said. Now she thinks of the mothers who have been wailing 20 years to find out what happened to their children. Now i thank god it s not my son s name on the Bracelet she said. I run born occasionally when the boredom of working Iron m / norne gels to me i think of the Good old Days when i enl to an Ollice 1 name Mhor the e
