Man who designed MIA/POW flAg dies

[1CAVCCO15MED]

The Colorado Springs man who designed the black and white POW/MIA flag flown
everywhere from federal buildings to Harley-Davidson fenders died Thursday
at his home.

Newt Heisley was 88.

"Newt wanted no hoopla. All he wants is a celebration," his fiancée, Donna
R. Allison, said.

That's what he'll get on Flag Day, June 14, from 1-4 p.m. at the American
Legion Post 38 in Security. The public is invited. He will be entombed at
Shrine of Remembrance next to his wife of 61 years, Margaret "Bunny", who
died in 2005.

The prolific image he sketched in pencil in 1971 has the silhouette of a man
under a guard tower and behind barbed wire. It's a symbolic reminder that
not every soldier returned from the war in Vietnam.

The flag flew over the White House when President Ronald Reagan marked the
first POW/MIA Recognition Day. Biker groups adopted the flag, tattooing the
image on their bodies, patching it on jackets and flying it from their
bumpers.

Newt Heisley sported the image on his hat, lapel and license plate.

"Everyone knew it was Newt's flag," Allison said. "He would personally sign
them for people, that's what he would do for years."

He never dreamed it would be a national icon. He was simply "the ad guy"
around town.

"He was just working for an ad agency. He came up with the rendition of the
flag," said his son, James Heisley. "At first he was almost embarrassed, but
he got kind of used to it. It defined his life."

Newt Heisley was proud of what the flag meant. He was a C-46 transport pilot
in World War II in the Pacific.

"It was typical to present it in black-and-white and his idea was to go back
and do some color," James Heisley said. "They came and looked at it and
said, 'That's it.'"

Newt Heisley worked in advertising for 25 years in big Manhattan agencies
before moving to Colorado Springs to start an his own advertising firm.

"He decided there had to be greener pastures," James Heisley said. "He
almost took a job in Bermuda, but my mom was a little leery of living on an
island. They said, 'Let's head West and see what we can see.' They were on
the way to California and pulled into a hotel room in Colorado Springs in
the dark. In the morning he saw Pikes Peak and said, 'Bunny, we aren't going
any further.'"

He retired from Heisley Design and Advertising in 1987.

"He didn't expect to get any recognition. If he had a nickel for every time
that image appeared, he and I'd be multi-multi millionaires," James Heisley
said. "Newt always said it was better as public image."

He also is survived by another son, Jeffrey N., who modeled for the
silhouette on the flag; daughters-in-law Susan Heisley and Deborah Heisley;
and granddaughter Sara Heisley.


Newt Heisley was a pilot during World War II, a dangerous role that accounts
for many war-time POWs and MIAs. Years after the war he had come to New
York looking for work. "It took me four days to find a bad job at low pay,"
he later said of his introduction to "Big Apple" advertising agencies. But,
by working hard, by 1971 he had gradually moved upward in the industry,
eventually working for an agency with many national accounts.

As a veteran, the call for a flag designed to raise awareness of our
Nation's POW/MIAs was a personal challenge. It was even more challenging
when he considered that his oldest son Jeffrey was, during these Vietnam War
years, training for combat with the United States Marines at Quantico,
Virginia. As he pondered this new challenge a series of events set in
motion the ideas that would create a flag unlike anything since the days of
Betsy Ross. First, Jeffery became very ill while training for combat. The
illness, diagnosed as hepatitis, ravaged his body emaciating his face and
structure. When he returned home, medically discharged and unable to
continue further, his father looked in horror at what had once been a
strong, young man. Then, as Newt Heisley looked closer at his son's gaunt
features, he began to imagine what life must be like for those behind barbed
wire fences on foreign shores. Slowly he began to sketch the profile of his
son, working in pencil to create a black and white silhouette, as the new
flag's design was created in his mind. Barbed wire, a tower, and most
prominently the visage of a gaunt young man became the initial proposal.

Newt Heisley's black and white pencil sketch was one of several designs
considered for the new POW/MIA flag. Newt planned, should his design be
accepted, to add color at a later date...perhaps a deep purple and white.
"In the advertising industry, you do everything in black and white first,
then add the color," he says. Mr. Heisley's proposal for the new flag was
unique. Rarely does a flag prominently display the likeness of a person.
None-the-less, it was the design featuring the gaunt silhouette of his son
Jeffrey that was accepted and, before Mr. Heisly could return to refine his
proposal and add the colors he had planned, the black and white flags were
already being printed in quantity by Annin & Company. (Though the POW/MIA
flag has been produced in other colors, often in red and white, the black
and white design became the most commonly used version.)

The design for the MIA/POW flag was never copyrighted. It became a flag
that belongs to everyone, a design that hauntingly reminds us of those we
dare not ever forget. Behind the black and white silhouette is a face we
can't see...the face of a husband, a father, or a son who has paid with
their freedom, for our freedom. Beneath the image are the words....

You Are Not Forgotten

[DMZ-LT]

Salute.Got a head band and a T shirt of his creation

[DMZ ENGINEER]

I Liked The Design..........