Five More Are Finally Home

Looks like the good men and women at the Joint Personnel Accounting Command have been working overtime lately, and I’ve missed some of their good work.

Yesterday I wrote about the recovery and identification of three US personnel missing from the Korean War.  In the past month or so, they’ve also identified several others.

PFC Bobby L. Byars, formerly of Griffin, GA, was assigned to the US Army’s 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT).  PFC Byars was lost on December 12, 1950, during the retreat of the remnants of the 31st RCT from the Chosin Reservoir.  PFC Byars’ remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.  Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.  He will be buried in his hometown on February 16, 2013.

PFC  Glenn S. Schoenmann, formerly of Tracey City, TN, was assigned to the US Army’s 31^st Regimental Combat Team.  He was initially reported killed by sniper fire, body not recovered, during an engagement near the east bank of the Chosin Reservoir on December 12, 1950.  Interviews with returning POWs in 1953 indicated that Schoenmann had indeed been wounded by sniper fire, but had survived to be taken POW.  He later succumbed to a combination of malnutrition and lack of medical care while in captivity.  PFC Schoenmann’s remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.  Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.  He was buried on January 12, 2013, in Palmer, TN.

PFC Ernest V. Fuqua Jr., formerly of Detroit, MI, was assigned to the US Army’s 35th Infantry Regiment.   PFC Fuqua was killed in action, body not recovered, on November 28, 1950 as his unit retreated towards Unsan.   PFC Fuqua’s remains were among those in 208 boxes of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1991 and 1994.  Modern technology recently allowed the positive identification of his remains.  He was buried on January 15, 2013, in Rochester Hills,MI.

PFC Weldon A. Davis, formerly of Tioga, TX, was assigned to the US Army’s 2nd Infantry Division.  He was reported missing in action near Somindong, North Korea, in late November, 1950.  Interviews with returning POWs in 1953 indicated that Davis had been captured alive, but had died of malnutrition and lack of medical care while in captivity.  His remains were recovered in 2005 by a joint US-DPRK recovery team.  He was buried on February 6, 2013, in Dallas, TX.

2LT William R. Parkinson, formerly of Norfolk, Va., was lost on May 7, 1945.  2LT Parkinson was the pilot of a B-24D that was lost with all hands when it crashed in the mountains southeast of Lae, Papua New Guinea.  The crash site was rediscovered and excavated in 1973.  Remains were discovered at that time, but could not be individually identified and were buried in a group gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery.  The crash site was revisited in 2008 and additional remains were discovered.  2LT Parkinson’s remains were positively identified and were buried in Conyers, GA, on January 16, 2013.

Welcome home, my elder brothers in arms.  Rest now in peace.

Over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, while over 73,000 remain unaccounted for from World War II.  If you are relative of someone who didn’t come home, please read this link to see if you might qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.  If you qualify and your missing relative is someone for whom a mtDNA sample is needed, please give one.  You may be able to help identify US remains that have been repatriated but not yet positively identified.

Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave all.

Category: No Longer Missing