MILITARY

Sculpture to honor work of League of Wives

By MICHELLE DELANEY

Members of the Leagues of Wives — from left, Carole Hanson, Louise Mulligan, Sybil Stockdale, Andrea Rander and Pat Mearns — at a news conference with President Richard Nixon in an undated photo.

In October 1966, a group of 13 Navy wives met at the Coronado home of Sybil Stockdale, wife of aviator and then-Capt. James Stockdale. Their most significant bond was that each of their husbands had been shot down behind enemy lines and was missing in action or captured as a prisoner of war.

This meeting was not the typical social gathering to which they were accustomed. Rather, it was the precursor of many meetings around the Stockdale’s kitchen table, where the wives would exchange what information they had, support each other and work together to move forward in unchartered POW/MIA spouse territory.

This band of women, led by Stockdale (the highest-ranking POW spouse), was the beginning of the League of Wives, a sorority of sorts; it was born in Coronado but grew to be a well-organized national group of women. Together they broke through social protocols of the time and pressed politicians in Washington and the North Vietnamese to bring their husbands safely home.

To honor those groundbreaking Navy wives, a movement is underway to erect a League of Wives Memorial in Coronado.

The memorial will honor both the League of Wives and Sybil Stockdale for their “legacy of playing a major role in both Coronado and national history,” said Christina Slentz, co-chair of the League of Wives Memorial Foundation. Slentz credits Stockdale, who died in Coronado in 2015, and the wives for their unprecedented ability to organize and effect change.

A clay model depicts the proposed bronze sculpture of the League of Wives Memorial.

“These military spouses communicated with each other and knew their shared concerns, and they did this all without Facebook, email or free long-distance calls,” Slentz said. “They were not just survivors. They were able to take action as a unified front. What began as talks at their kitchen tables became conversations at the international negotiating table.”

The significance of such a memorial is unquestionable. The League of Wives started small in Coronado but spread throughout military installations far and wide, eventually becoming a national movement. The movement became a nonprofit known as the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia; it is also legally known as National League of POW/MIA Families. The League of Wives Memorial Foundation hopes the project will serve as an important reminder for the community.

The proposed memorial is a bronze sculpture featuring four female figures. The central figure represents Sybil Stockdale, signifying her leadership and determination. The other three unnamed women represent the nationwide movement that was the League of Wives. The women are stepping forward on an upward slope, symbolizing their uphill battle and their transformation from passivity to action.

The sculpture will also include an unseen fifth figure representing the military spouse past, present and future, to pay homage to the long history of military spouses in Coronado.

The foundation, which incorporated as a nonprofit in December 2021, has commissioned sculptors Christopher Slatoff and Elisabeth Pollnow and has identified three potential sites for the memorial: the Coronado Public Library, Star Park and Rotary Plaza. Fundraising is in motion.

The foundation is in the process of bringing the public art donation proposal forward for City Council approval, anticipated this month or next. The goal is to have the funds raised for the memorial by the 50th anniversary of the return of the POWs in early 2023. The estimated cost for the sculpture is $300,000. So far, more than $31,000 has been pledged. (Pledges can be made at leagueofwives.com/pledge.)

For Slentz, the project is as much about the wives’ efforts for their POWs as it is about their contributions to the role of future military spouses. The women initially faced a “Keep Quiet” policy and were expected to play a passive role. They were told not to speak about their husbands’ situations, but in 1968, Stockdale broke her silence about her husband’s captivity and torture, thereby leading the way for more spouses to do the same.

Under President Nixon, the “Keep Quiet” policy was dropped, but the league still had to battle various government agencies, which did little to prioritize their cause. Aided by allies in naval intelligence, Stockdale and many other wives sent coded letters back and forth to their husbands.

The women were able to shine the public spotlight on prisoners and those missing in action, placing pressure on the North Vietnamese government for the violation of the Geneva Conventions in the treatment and torture of POWs. During the Paris Peace Accords in late 1972 and early 1973, the Nixon administration agreed that the return of the prisoners and an accounting of the missing would be part of the treaty with North Vietnam.

Although it took more than eight years, the heroic efforts of the League of Wives were ultimately instrumental in the return of 501 POWs.

“The wives influenced the dynamics and brought forward the humanity of the POWs. They forever transformed the role of the military spouse and gave a voice to those who followed in their footsteps,” Slentz said. ■

Photo: DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS/ UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

Sen. Bob Dole with Sybil Stockdale (center) promoting the League of Wives’ cause.