(Johnston, Iowa) – The Iowa Gold Star Military Museum invites the public to attend the opening of a traveling exhibit on Thursday May 5, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. “The League of Wives: Vietnam’s POW/MIA Allies and Advocates” exhibit, sponsored by the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, includes 18 illustrated panels and related artifacts tracing the story of the women who formed The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. They became the POW and MIAs most fervent advocates, going to extraordinary lengths to facilitate their husbands’ freedom and to account for missing military men by relentlessly lobbying government leaders, conducting a media campaign, holding covert meetings with antiwar activists, attempting negotiations with the North Vietnamese, and encoding messages in letters to their imprisoned husbands. The exhibit will be available for viewing through 31 August 2022.

Iowa Gold Star Museum

Ms. Heath Hardage Lee is the opening event’s guest speaker. Her 2019 book, The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home from Vietnam, has been optioned for a feature film. Ms. Lee is also the curator of the exhibit. During her presentation, Ms. Lee will tell the story of these remarkable women drawing on first person interviews, diaries, letters, oral histories and archival government records to tell the story of courage, resilience, and rescue. She will provide a book signing opportunity at the conclusion of the program.