Rotary Weekly Meeting-Jim & Carole Hickerson

Speaker: Jim & Carole Hickerson

Topic: National POW MIA DAY

Carole Hickerson‘s first husband Capt. Stephen Hanson, USMC, vanished in 1967 while piloting a secret

helicopter mission in Laos. During the Vietnam War years, she was one of the most outspoken POW/MIA

wives, breaking the code of silence about POW/MIA’s by publicizing their plight on a television program.

After helping to create the National League of Families for POW/MIAs, she became its second President

and a member of its Board of Directors. She met with Presidents Nixon and Ford, Secretaries of State,

and many world leaders to help spotlight the POW/MIA issue. When the POW’s returned and it became

obvious that Stephen had perished, she moved on with her life. In 1974, while helping with a POW event

at the Texas Cotton Bowl, fate would intervene. She met Jim Hickerson, a former POW. Soon thereafter,

Jim and Carole were wed and have spent the last 36 years together.

Capt. Jim Hickerson, in 1967, as a LCDR was on an air mission when his aircraft was hit by a surfaceto-

air missile (SAM) and he was forced to eject. He spent nearly six years as a POW in the torture

and deprivation of the North Vietnamese. Upon returning home, he continued his naval career until

retiring with 30 years of dedicated service. After completing a highly successful second career as a

businessman, he serves as a volunteer. Whether it is being a deacon at the First Presbyterian Church,

a leader in the Navy League and AFCEA, or speaking to groups, he continues serve his country and our