Coronado dedicates plaque for Stockdales
By Janine Zuniga
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
CORONADO Ð A memorial plaque honoring Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale and his wife, Sybil, was unveiled Tuesday at the recently renovated library.
Mayor Tom Smisek welcomed a crowd of about 60 people, including Sybil B. Stockdale, who resides in Coronado, city and Navy officials, former prisoners of war, and astronaut Wally Schirra. Retired Vice Adm. Ed Martin called the Stockdales a Òmarvelous American couple.Ó
Martin said the tribute to the Stockdales in such a public place will allow many generations to come to know the significant contributions each has made Ð he through his inspiring courage while a POW and she through her national focus on Vietnam War prisoners.
James and Sybil Stockdale allowed many POWs to return Òhome with honor,Ó Martin said.
Stockdale, one of the most highly decorated Navy officers, died July 5 at his Coronado home. He received the Medal of Honor for enduring 7? years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam after his plane was shot down.
Sybil Stockdale received the U.S. Navy Department's Distinguished Public Service Award for her campaign for the respectful treatment of POWs, the only wife of an active-duty officer to be so honored.
After speeches by Smisek, Martin and Rear Adm. J.M. Zortman, Taylor Stockdale, the couple's son, accepted the tribute and spoke on their behalf.
ÒWe are incredibly grateful and enormously humbled by this tribute,Ó said Taylor Stockdale, who added that his parents Òare equal heroes in my mind.Ó
The 20-by-24-inch plaque on a half-ton granite boulder is titled: ÒThe Stockdale TributeÓ and calls the couple ÒGreat American HeroesÓ and ÒDistinguished Coronado Residents.Ó The plaque also reads: ÒDedicated by the City Council and Citizens of Coronado 2006.Ó
The boulder sits below a flagpole that holds a U.S. flag, a California flag and a POW/MIA flag that will remain Òin perpetuity,Ó Smisek said. Images of the Stockdales, including James Stockdale in a white uniform with many medals over his heart, also appear on the plaque in front of the library, on Orange Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets.
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