As the Vietnam War ended on April 30th, 1975, American Soldiers in prison camps across Vietnam were released. However, the homecoming did not convince everyone that all the POWs were released. The word "Missing in Action" or "MIA" was used to describe the soldiers that were reported missing during war. Many people believe that soldiers listed as MIA are actually POW. This took an emotional toll on the families of MIA soldiers because they believed that their family member was dead when there was a chance that they were alive, still suffering in prisoner of war camps.