BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
ORANGE PARK— Clay County Commissioners dedicated a section of Moody Avenue near Orange Park to the woman behind the POW-MIA flag.
County Commissioner Jim Renninger said during a dedication ceremony on Sept. 17 that Navy Lt. Commander Michael G. Hoff and his wife Mary Helen resided in Orange Park with their four children during the Vietnam War.
“In January 1970, Renninger said, “Mary got the unfortunate phone call that Mike had been lost and this is right after giving birth to the fifth child.”
Hoff, piloting a Sidewinder A7A Corsair from the USS Coral Sea was on a reconnaissance mission over Laos when reported missing.
“But even though her husband was missing in action with five young children in the household to run, she was inspired to find a way to support other families in the same situation,” Renninger said. “She became a champion of Gold Star families and POW-MIA families, caring for (them) and managing their lives while dealing with her own personal loss.”
Renninger said Hoff became very active in POW-MIA groups, keeping the memory of prisoners and missing service members alive.
“Initially she sold POW-MIA bracelets,” Renninger said. “She was tasked by the National League of POW families to seek a more permanent way of recognition. Through her initiatives, she greatly influenced the creation of one of the most recognized symbols in America today, and that’s the POW-MIA flag.”
According to the POW-MIA Memorial website, Hoff asked an advertising agency that worked for the United Nations to design the flag. She then won approval for the design from the National League of POW-MIA Families, making the flag the league’s official banner.
“Because of Mary Helen Hoff’s compassion for the cause and affiliation with the National League of POW-MIA Families,” Renninger said, “the POW-MIA flag now flies prominently over the White House, the Capitol, (and) the departments of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs headquarters.”
He added that the flag also flies over US military and civilian installations all over the world.
Renninger said that through Hoff’s and the league’s efforts, the Department of Defense established the Defense POW-Missing Personnel Office and the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency to account for missing service members.
“In fact,” he added, “through such inspiration there’s also an office in Vietnam called the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons, which works collaboratively with U.S. forces in an attempt to locate and identify those still categorized as MIA.”
Renninger said that he has spoken with U.S. military personnel who have been on missions seeking the remains of U.S. personnel in southeast Asia. He said that sometimes, U.S. personnel find remains of service members from other countries.
“Quite honestly, some of the other countries just leave them there,” he said. “They don’t have the same attitude. So, you can see what the efforts of Ms. Hoff and the league did for this country.”
The Navy promoted Michael Hoff to commander while he was missing.
Mary Helen Hoff continued to make Orange Park her home until her passing in 2015.
Her son Mike told attendees of the road dedication ceremony that his mother would be humbled by the county’s action.
Hoff recalled that it was just a few miles away, in the family’s formal dining room on River Road Drive, where his mother began her crusade.
“Our circular dining room table was stacked with correspondence that she was both sending and receiving in this effort,” Hoff said. “Even more visually and emotionally striking were the hundreds of silver and copper bracelets overflowing on that table with names of POWs and MIAs from nearly every service branch in every corner of this great nation.”
Hoff said that seeing all those names made him realize how many individuals and their families were deeply impacted by the conflict in Vietnam.
He added that he hoped the street dedication will keep alive the memories of those still missing.
“I would hope that seeing Mom’s name on a street sign sparked a conversation on who she was and more importantly, who and what she was like,” Hoff said. “As a nation, we should never forget the sacrifices made to keep us all safe and able to enjoy the freedoms we sometimes take for granted.”
Clay County Manager Howard Wanamaker noted that over 30,000 veterans now live in Clay County.
“We are so proud they call Clay County home,” he said. “We’ll be forever grateful for their service, especially those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
The portion of Moody Avenue designated as the Mary Helen Hoff Memorial Avenue runs from the avenue’s southern terminus at Peoria Road to the Orange Park Town limit, at Montclair Elementary School.
