Charleroi woman returns POW/MIA bracelet to serviceman’s family
Christina Strong of Horseshoe Bend, Ark., poses with some of her late husband’s military memorabilia.
Cmdr. Henry Strong Jr.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans spent the years during the Vietnam War wondering if their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles or friends were going to return home. More soldiers were being declared prisoners of war or missing in action with each passing day.
To help people cope with the uncertainty, a California student group called Voices in Vital America partnered with the National League of POW/MIA families in the 1970s to create bracelets to bring attention to the missing and assure American POWs in Vietnam would not be forgotten. Each bracelet featured the name of a missing soldier, their rank and date of loss. Those who wore the bracelets vowed to leave them on until the soldier named on the bracelet, or their remains, came home.
Cathy Derrow of Charleroi recently sent a POW/MIA bracelet to its “true home” in Arkansas.
Lauren Siebert, the granddaughter of Henry Hooker “Hank” Strong Jr., a commander in the U.S. Navy and Skyhawk (A4F) pilot who went MIA May 25, 1972, after his plane was shot down by enemy fire, opened a Facebook message from Derrow saying she had a bracelet with Strong’s name, and she would be glad to send it to Siebert if she was, indeed, his relative.
“I just happened across it in my jewelry box, and I went online and made a couple of clicks, and the next thing you know I’m in touch with the granddaughter. It was pretty amazing,” Derrow said.
“It was kind of a mixture of excitement and being terrified at the same time,” said Siebert about hearing from Derrow. “I still remember getting it in the mail. I was so excited when I saw the package. Then I was sitting in my bedroom just kind of staring at it after I opened it, thinking this thing is almost twice my age.”
Siebert said it really meant something that somebody was carrying around her grandfather’s name all this time.
According to an article written by Siebert in the Spring River Chronicle in Hardy, Ark., she grew up with only one grandparent, Strong’s widow, Christina Strong, and by the time she was 8, she realized something was missing and did not quite understand why her grandfather never came home. As a child she could see that talking about her grandfather was painful for her mother and grandmother. Hank Strong’s remains were never recovered.
“It was really hard because I thought after all these years she’d be over it, but I was wrong,” said Siebert upon presenting her grandmother with the bracelet. “That was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, basically bring up every sad memory my grandma ever had for the sake of writing a story.”
Siebert and her parents set up a photo shoot of her grandmother with every memento she had left of her husband for the day she got the bracelet. These mementos included photographs, medals and Strong’s last remaining uniform shirt.
“We were all surprised at how emotional it was,” Siebert said.
The POW/MIA bracelets could be ordered, or bought at air shows or military events where there would be different booths selling the nickel-plated pieces. Civilians wore bracelets with the names of loved ones, or the names of soldiers they did not know personally, as was the case for Derrow. She said when she returned the bracelet, she felt a feeling she could not explain, one that “just made my heart feel good”
When she sent Siebert the package containing the bracelet, Derrow enclosed a note that read, “It is with great pleasure that I return my 1972 POW bracelet to its rightful owner. I was 12 in 1972, living in Cokeburg, Pennsylvania, Washington County, when I got my bracelet. I always remembered the name and date. Over the years I often wondered, did he make it home? What was his story? I recently saw the bracelet in my jewelry box, did a little Internet research and hopefully, it has found its true home.”
“I’d like to thank Cathy. She must be a really special kind of person to just hold on to this thing for all these years,” Siebert said.