Lomita Man Soldiers On in MIA/POW Flag Battle

He’s doing it, he says, for the World War II Navy nurse who got left behind in the Philippines.

For the fresh-faced Marine private who got ambushed by the Viet Cong and was never found.

And for the families who still have a glimmer of hope that their husbands and wives, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters will some day come home.

What began as a request from Lomita City Councilman Dave Albert last year to have the nationally recognized POW/MIA flag flown over the local post office has turned into a quest for veteran recognition that has garnered the support of cities and states across the nation--not to mention some members of Congress.

The postmaster general denied the request, saying that only an act of Congress could overturn the law specifying that only the United States and Postal Service flags fly above the 40,000 post offices nationwide.

Now Albert, a businessman with no military background, has made it his mission to get the law changed.

“These people cannot and will not be forgotten,” said Albert, 44, reiterating the words embossed on the distinctive black-and-white banner. “People need to understand that these are our heroes.”

Postal Service officials emphasize that they are not against flying the flag. They cite the 67 million stamps issued in 1995 to call attention to the plight of POWs and MIAs and the fact that more than one-third of the 800,000 postal workers are former military personnel.

“It’s simply a matter of federal law,” said Art Shealy, a Washington-based spokesman. “We will comply with the law. If the law changes, we will gladly fly the flag.”

Albert has fired off about 3,000 letters, encouraging mayors and city managers west of Kansas and governors of all 50 states to adopt his resolution to fly the flag at their city buildings. The resolution also calls for government officials to write Postmaster General Marvin Runyon and President Clinton, urging them to help change the law.

From Riverside to Rolling Hills Estates, which was ordered to remove the POW/MIA flag from a local post office in January when the postmaster learned that the flag had been flying there for six years, numerous city councils have supported the proposal. States as far as Hawaii and Massachusetts have jumped on the bandwagon.

And soon the flag issue will unfurl in Congress. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills) wrote legislation calling for the flag, which symbolizes the nation’s commitment to finding all military personnel who are prisoners of war, missing in action or unaccounted for, to be flown at all federal buildings, including post offices, on six annual patriotic holidays.

A presidential proclamation from Clinton requires that the POW/MIA flag be flown at national cemeteries three days a year. Harman proposes that the flag be flown on six days--Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day and National POW/MIA Recognition Day.

More than 2,000 soldiers are listed as POW/MIAs from Vietnam and more than 8,000 from Korea, and it’s estimated that the number of military personnel unaccounted for from World War II hovers near 80,000, Harman said.

The proposed legislation has been given a thumbs up by 43 representatives who have co-sponsored the bill, which is scheduled to be heard next month. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) has introduced it in the Senate, and already has 20 co-sponsors.

“This flag says we will never forget those who fought for America and there is no more patriotic act than losing one’s life for one’s country,” Harman said, confident that the bill will pass both the House and the Senate by POW/MIA National Recognition Day on Sept. 19. “It will be a proud day for America and the families who’ve lost someone when we can raise this flag at all patriotic sites.”

Many veterans couldn’t agree more.

“The POW/MIA flag reminds us of those who never came back,” said Bob Deurloo, a Vietnam veteran and post quartermaster for the Lomita veterans group. “We fought for that flag, and we’d like to see that flag flying.”