I am Stacey, a native Texan and proud American. I am a friend to veterans, a voice for those who have yet to return. I live to honor those who made it back, and remember those who did not. I am an adopted member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 278, a life member of the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America, and an honorary member of the United States Coast Guard [you can see that, and my other honors, here]. I am the proud granddaughter of three World War II veterans. Furthermore, I am the daughter-in-law, cousin, niece, aunt, and sister of numerous other veterans, including a brother who is currently serving in Afghanistan and a nephew who served two tours in Iraq.

I became involved in the POW/MIA issue in January 1998. I was a junior at the University of North Texas, and six months away from my twenty-first birthday. Surfing the internet one day, I happened upon a web page that paid tribute to a man who was still Missing in Action from the Vietnam War. Feeling heartbroken because this person was only nineteen when he was lost, and wanting to learn more, I decided to follow a link and adopt my own MIA. Little did I know what a pivotal point that would be in my life.

Within a year, I had adopted six more people unaccounted for from the Vietnam War and began this site. This site has evolved over the years, and so has my involvement. I have gone from shaking my head in frustration at people who did not want to look at this issue as a major issue to speaking to those who do at my city's annual POW/MIA vigil. I have jumped for joy when I learned that another MIA is home to weeping with the family as I attend a former MIA's funeral (five so far: USCG Lt. Jack Columbus Rittichier - Vietnam; USAF Chief MSgt. Luther Lee Rose - Vietnam; USAF Major Arthur Dale Baker - Vietnam; USAF Colonel James Wimberley Lewis - Vietnam; and 2LT. Raymond Arthur Cooley - World War II).

My life has changed throughout the years as well. I moved to Texarkana in 2001, and became involved with the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. Through them I have been able to reach out to so many people. I have volunteered at The Moving Wall twice – once in Texarkana in 2002 and again in Branson during Operation Homecoming USA in 2005. I have been able to give speeches and share my passion with others. I have morphed from a college student to a married woman and mother of two. My boys are young but I am already instilling in them a sense of pride for our country and respect for our veterans.

So much has changed in the fourteen years since I first became involved, but one thing has remained the same: my firm belief in the quote that I end all my speeches with, which is this -- “A man is not dead until he is forgotten.”

Feel free to contact me at txpowmia@hotmail.com.

This was formally the 'about this site' page; that information is now here.