Prisoners of war (POWs) have played a major role in the conduct and outcome of America's wars. As far back as the Civil War, even as captured servicemen were removed from the field of battle, their status and treatment continued to influence the course of the conflict and the terms of the peace settlement. In both Korea, and Vietnam especially, in an age of increased media publicity, tales of POW brutality and suffering, as well as heroic resistance, greatly affected attitudes and morale on the home front. The large numbers of U.S. missing-in-action (MIA) in Korea and Vietnam, many of them pilots lost during shootdown incidents who were thought possibly to have been captured but remained unaccounted for after the war, continue into the twenty-first century to arouse strong emotions.

Korean War

During the Korean War (1950–1953), approximately 7,100 U.S. servicemen were taken prisoner. Of that...