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Behind the Vietnam War Story of ‘P.O.W. Wife’ Valerie Kushner

3 minute read

When Valerie Kushner was on the cover of LIFE Magazine in 1972, there were 537 known prisoners of war in Vietnam and more than 1,000 men missing in action.

As those men became something of a political football, LIFE noted in that Sept. 29, 1972, cover story that their families were caught in the middle. Initially, they had been told to keep quiet lest news about the POWs provoke their captors—a calculation still in play for some Americans dealing with analogous situations today. But President Nixon had decided that, after years of stalemate, it couldn’t hurt to have them come out of the shadows.

Kushner was one of the people who did so with particular force. She was the wife of POW Harold Kushner, whose story is featured in the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick docu-series The Vietnam War. She was a founder of POW/MIA Families for Immediate Release, and the LIFE photograph that’s fourth in the gallery above appears in the documentary.

September 29, 1972 cover of LIFE magazine.
September 29, 1972 cover of LIFE magazine.LIFE Magazine

“Her husband, a flight surgeon, was captured five years ago,” the magazine explained. “Reluctant to play the role of docile service wife, she seconded McGovern’s nomination at the Democratic convention and is now an active worker in his campaign. He is the last hope, she now believes, for her husband’s safe return.”

In all the time he had been gone, Kushner had received only two letters from her husband. She wrote back despite knowing he did not receive the replies, although announcements he was forced to record by his captors were aired on Radio Hanoi. She believed that electing George McGovern, a Democratic Senator from South Dakota and a former pilot who championed withdrawing from Vietnam, was the only way to bring her husband home.

Vietnam POW Hal Kushner letter to his wife and family
Letter from Hal Kushner.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Valerie was pregnant with the couple’s second child when Harold, known as Hal or “Spanky,” was shot down. The LIFE article, which made its way to Vietnam, was the first time that Hal Kushner saw a photograph of his son. His wife was raising both children with the help of their grandparents, but shunned any praise of her ability to maintain her political work as a single mother. “I never had any doubts about my own capabilities,” she told LIFE. In fact, she added with remarkable candor, she believed that being deprived of sex gave her plenty of extra energy to sublimate into other activities.

“There are things that you miss more than sex, however,” she said. “I miss being loved more than being made love to.”

But, she acknowledged, she believed that the return of the prisoners would be a preface to many divorces, as both sides realized that the partner they had lost was not the same person to whom they returned.

McGovern lost the election, but Harold Kushner was released on March 16, 1973. As The Vietnam War reveals, however, Valerie’s prediction proved true: the man had survived, but the marriage would not.

POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Only moment when the public eye is no longer on her does the strain of her long fight begin to show.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. There's no man around to help Valerie with her luggage, so she carries it herself (above in Danville, Va.) throughout her whistle-stop tours.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner having a quiet moment alone. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Valerie Kushner gamely takes on an unsympathetic audience in Appleton, Wis. "She has nice legs, but she's been brainwashed," a Kiwanis member said later.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner holding a stack of newspapers.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Eight-year-old Toni Jean (in a tender moment with her mother) was only 3 when her father was captured in South Vietnam. She still tells stories of things she and her daddy did together, however, and still answers the family phone, "Hello, Dr. Kushner's residence."Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Mike has a picture in his room of his father in a flight suit standing near a helicopter. When he plays with his GI Joe Rescue Helicopter, he questions his mother, "Is this helicopter anything like my Daddy's?"Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Mike loves his granddad, Bob Kushner, a dentist, tries hard to fill in for his missing son: he takes young Mike fishing, buys him toys and the two of them meet every Wednesday for lunch. "When Mike's father comes back Mike can start calling me 'Grandpa,' " Kushner says, "but until then I'm Bob and he's my buddy." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valeries Kushner with her children Toni Jean and Mike. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner speaking with a group of people.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Mr. and Mrs. Vern Anshus, have a POW son, but they told Valerie in Hamilton, Ohio that they plan to vote for President Nixon. Although their son, Richard, added his name to a plea for peace made by Captain Kushner from Hanoi, they can't believe he was serious. "It was just a means of letting us know he's there." Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Sharon Walsh's husband was shot down in February 1969 and is now listed MIA. Like Valerie, she also works for McGovern. "But," says Sharon, "my activities are strictly political. I don't expect my husband to come home." Valerie admits, "I still feel guilty around Sharon when I mention that I got a letter from Spanky." On a campaign stop in Minneapolis, where Sharon lives, they had time for a long talk in the kitchen with Sharon's friend Dick Faunce.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. Sharon and Valerie share an emotional goodbye at the airport. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Caption from LIFE. An intense Valerie delivers one more speech in River Falls, Wis.To maintain the pace of her grueling schedule, she chain-consumes Coke and cigarettes.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner speaking with a group of people.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner being interviewed.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner preparing for an interview.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner on the phone.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner with her daughter Toni Jean riding her bike in the background.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
POW wife Valerie Kushner from a LIFE photo essay by Leonard McCombe in 1972.
Valerie Kushner with her children Toni Jean and Mike.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com