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Sybil Bailey Stockdale

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
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Sybil Bailey Stockdale, a Navy wife who fought to end the torture of U.S. prisoners of war in Vietnam, has died, according to the Associated Press.

Stockdale's son, Sid Stockdale, said Tuesday that his mother died Oct. 10 at a hospital after suffering from Parkinson's disease. She was 90.

Stockdale is the wife of the late Vice Adm. James Bond Stockdale. She found her calling after her husband's plane was shot down during the Vietnam War in 1965 and he was taken prisoner. The U.S. government at the time discouraged military wives from speaking up about the mistreatment of the prisoners of war, Sid Stockdale said. Nonetheless, Stockdale organized military wives who demanded the U.S. government pressure North Vietnam to abide by the Geneva Convention.

Stockdale helped found the League of American Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia and she served as the organization's first national coordinator. She made appearances on television, met regularly with then-President Richard Nixon and confronted a North Vietnamese delegation at the Paris Peace Talks. She also worked closely with the CIA to be able to write secretly encoded letters to her husband, who was tortured by his captors.

The military credited Stockdale with helping secure the safe return of her husband and other POWs in 1973.

Sen. John McCain, a naval aviator, was a fellow POW in the Hanoi Hilton with Stockdale's husband.

"Sybil's selfless service and sacrifice fighting for American prisoners of war, those missing in action, and many who are still unaccounted for has left an indelible mark on this nation that will never be forgotten" McCain said in a statement to the newspaper.

The Navy awarded her its Distinguished Public Service Award, whose citation reads: "Her actions and her indomitable spirit in the face of many adversities contributed immeasurably to the successful safe return of American prisoners, gave hope, support and solace to their families in a time of need and reflected the finest traditions of the Naval service and of the United States of America."

Stockdale later co-authored "In Love and War" with her husband about their experience.

Until the end, she continued to meet at her home monthly in Coronado with the wives of POWs and those missing in action.

In 1992, Vice Adm. Stockdale ran as the vice presidential candidate with independent Ross Perot.

Sybil Stockdale was predeceased by her husband in 2005 and her son, Stanford Stockdale, in 2014.

She leaves behind three sons, Jim Stockdale of Beaver, Pennsylvania; Sid Stockdale of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Taylor Stockdale of Claremont, California; and eight grandchildren.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/limaohio/obituary.aspx?n=sybil-stockdale&pid=176103442

:flowers:
 

ki0ho

Active member
GOLD Site Supporter
SAD.....a fine lady...she will be missed by many of us........thanks for the post
 
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