COLORADO SPRINGS — Newt Heisley, the designer of the POW/MIA flag adopted by Congress in 1990 as a symbol of the nation’s concern for those missing during military actions in Southeast Asia, has died. He was 88.
Donna Allison, Heisley’s fiancee, told The Associated Press that Heisley died suddenly Thursday at his home after years of failing health. His death was first reported by The Gazette.
Heisley’s image sketched in pencil in 1971 during the Vietnam War shows the silhouette of a gaunt man, a strand of barbed wire and a watchtower in the background with the words “POW/MIA You are not forgotten.”
Congress in 1998 mandated that the flag be displayed at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, military installations and other federal buildings on national observances that include Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. The flag also flies at Veterans Affairs medical centers each day, along with the American flag.
Heisley was working at an ad agency when he was assigned the task of submitting a design. His oldest son, Jeffrey, who had contracted hepatitis while training at Quantico, Va., in preparation for a tour of Vietnam, provided the inspiration for the silhouette.
“He looked in horror at what had been a strong young man,” Allison said, adding that Heisley feared that his son could suffer a similar fate of becoming a prisoner of war or going missing in action.
Heisley’s original plan was to add purple and white, but the stark black and white pencil drawing proved popular. The image was never copyrighted, and Heisley didn’t financially benefit from his design, which has been used on everything from lapel pins to vehicle designs, Allison said.
“He was just working for an ad agency. He came up with the rendition of the flag,” Heisley’s younger son, James, told The Gazette. “At first he was almost embarrassed, but he got kind of used to it. It defined his life.”
Heisley served as a C-46 transport pilot in the Pacific during World War II and worked in advertising agencies before moving to Colorado Springs to start his own agency.
Heisley will be buried Tuesday next to Margaret “Bunny” Heisley, his wife of 61 years who died in 2005, Allison said. The ceremony will be private, but a public celebration of his life is planned for June 14, Flag Day, at the American Legion Post 38 in Security-Widefield.
