Lady and the Flag
When Carole Hickerson’s husband was missing in action during the Vietnam War, she started a movement of families frustrated by a lack of information on their missing loved ones.
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miserate with each other. I was living in El Toro and he was stationed at Lenore, Calif. ... I would listen to his tale of sadness and he would listen to mine.”
Jim’s playful nature and his kindness toward Todd eventually won her heart. They were married in Orange Park, Fla., in 1974 after Steve’s status was officially changed to Killed in Action.
“I am so very fortunate to have had two wonderful husbands,” she says.
Carole retired from her up-front activism after the wedding. She felt she had done what she needed to do and it was now time to devote herself to her new husband.
Jim retired from the Navy in 1984 and took a job with defense contractor Antion. In 2000 they relocated to Hawaii after the company asked Jim to head up its new island office.
Little Jim, the boy they adopted and saved from abortion just 12 hours before the surgery was to take place, and Jenny, whom they adopted as a 5-year-old after she was abandoned in a South Korean bus station, had graduated high school, making the move easier.
Now it’s time to relax. Sort of. Jim is retired but is active in the Navy League, the Pacific Aviation Museum and is on the board of The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association. Carole also is involved in the Navy League, is an elder at First Presbyterian Church and a member of Promote Education Opportunities, which provides scholarships for women. One day she wants to write a book about her and Jim’s experiences, to leave the story to their three children.
But Carole Hickerson’s legacy is guaranteed. Even if few realize that the second-most recognizable flag in the U.S. came from her unintended design.
In 1971, the League of Families had a name, a mission and thousands of supporters. But it didn’t have a logo. Using her background in art, she created a simple design: the silhouette of a man’s head, barbed wire, a guard tower and a simple message, You Are Not Forgotten. The silhouette is of Steve.
“I do not take credit for the flag,” she says, admitting she doesn’t know who create it or when it happened, but is pleased the logo has grown to symbolize all people in uniform and not just those who are captured or killed.
Still, those veterans who served and didn’t get recognized hold a special place in her heart: “I feel for the Vietnam veterans who came home and didn’t get the attention the POWs got, and Jim will say that. All of the men and women who served should have gotten accolades too, yet veterans came home and were spat upon.”
Hickerson downplays her role in today’s appreciation of our armed forces. But long ago she forced us to take an honest look at the men and women in uniform. She let us know that while it is acceptable to criticize U.S. policy, those tasked with carrying out that policy deserve respect and honor. That is her place in history.
Jim and Carole Hickerson will be honored for their service to the Navy League at the American Patriot Awards Dinner Aug. 7 at Hilton Hawaiian Village. For more information or reservations, call 422-9404.
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