The League of Wives

The League of Wives. A Coronado Legacy of Courage and Commitment. , On September 9, 1965, Sybil Stockdale was notified that her husband, Navy Commander Jim Stockdale, had been shot down on a combat mission over North Vietnam. After seven long months, she learned he was being held as a prisoner of war, or "POW." Despite being encouraged to "keep quiet" about their husbands' circumstances, Sybil and fellow POW/MIA wives began gathering to discuss their suspicions of prisoner mistreatment and their frustration with the lack of U.S. governmental response. In October 1967, Sybil and fellow POW/MIA wives founded the League of Wives of American Vietnam Prisoners of War to press the US government about the plight of American POWs and MIAs. By 1968, Sybil and these women began to "go public" with their stories, calling attention specifically to the North Vietnamese blatant and repeated violations of the Geneva Conventions of War. By 1970, POW/MIA families across the country joined under one umbrella organization to form The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, with Sybil acting as their first National Coordinator. The women's actions saved lives and contributed to the safe return of 591 American prisoners of war, including Jim who was reunited with Sybil and their four sons on February 15, 1973. Born in Coronado at the Stockdale's dining room table, the League of Wives of American Prisoners or War evolved into a national movement that changed the course of international history.