TOUR OF WINGS - POW/MIA WINGS Superhero steel wings to bring awareness of MIA from the Vietnam War By CJ Machado Veteran Advocate Homeland Magazine Photojournalist
May we remember all those serving our country who could not return home during the holiday season. May God bring peace to the families awaiting their safe return and those often forgotten, especially the families of the Missing In Action (MIA) who may never have the opportunity to reunite with their loved ones. The lead characters are complex, resilient females, and the screenplay highlights their inspiring attributes, strength, beauty and many talents women naturally possess. The story includes animation, anime and clever robot characters to ignite the curiosity within our youth and encourage them to want to learn more about our military history involving Prisoners of War and Missing In Action. “It’s been a long time in the making, and I’m grateful to share its magnificence with the world as I believe it to be an expression of God’s Divine love and hope for humanity,” stated CJ Machado, creator of the Purple Foxes United story.
The POW/MIA Wings were created to raise awareness of Prisoners of War (POW) and Missing in Action (MIA). The impressive steel wings are comprised of dog tag “feathers” that represent the 1578 still MIA (at present) from the Vietnam War. Each dog tag is embossed with the name of the MIA veteran, branch of service, location last seen and date of disappearance-similar to the POW/MIA memorial bracelets concerned citizens wore during the Vietnam War in hopes of their return home. The POW/MIA Wings belong to the super heroine character LT Williams in the Purple Foxes United screenplay. The historical fiction story was inspired by the Son Tay Raid, the most daring mission executed to save Prisoners of War. Many of the characters in the story are based on legends of carrier aviation and Honor Flight San Diego alumni veterans. 20
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / January 2024
It took years to complete the POW/MIA Wings part of the project and it was a collaborative effort involving many talented artists and sponsors. Jay Stargaard with Stargaard Art welded the steel wings, John Campbell with VetArt.org constructed the display stand and thanks to the generous support of Logo Tags, the exclusive dog tag supplier of our military, the wings are now on tour for public display. The West Coast Tour of Wings officially kicked off on September 15, 2023, with the National POW/MIA Awareness Day and the closing of the Coronado Historical Association’s Open Doors: Vietnam POWs Fifty Years of Freedom exhibit. The wings were also displayed at Liberty Station’s Centennial Celebration in San Diego and the Coronado Island Fourth of July Parade receiving the highest honors the Admiral Stockdale Award and Military Heroes Award.