Well JD, I have a Galaxy S4 and my wife has a Galaxy Note 2 and the stock email app on both phones place an icon in the notification bar when an POP email comes in. I no longer use the stock app, but I know for certain that the stock app did provide the icon. One thing that I remember about the stock app, is that Notification were handled in the account set up of the email app, not the general set up. You may want to look there to see if the notifications are turned on. Of course, you stock app may be different than mine, but I wouldn't think so. If you get no love there, I can recommend Aquamail. It is the latest app that I have tried and I like it better than any I've tried. It does what you want. You may also want to try K-9 Mail, which also displays an icon when mail arrives. I would really be shocked it you stock app didn't do the icon thing. I don't know that I have ever seen one that didn't do that.