PFC Bobby Byars welcomed home

Michael dropped off a link on our Facebook page to some pictures that he took this weekend in Griffin, Georgia where PFC Bobby Byars was laid to rest 60 years after his death in Korea. According to KSBTV News;

The fighting in Korea stopped in 1953. Wednesday, 62 years after he was first reported missing in action, Byars returned home. His brother, Charles Byars, was just 13 when his older brother disappeared.

“I really looked up to him. He was sort of my hero,” Byars told Channel 2’s Diana Davis.

In 1993, North Korea turned over 208 boxes of soldier remains to the U.S. government. They contained the remains of 1,000 soldiers. It took 20 years to analyze Byars’ DNA and match it to his brother, nephew and other surviving family members. Charles Byars said he gave up hope long ago.

“I didn’t think they would ever find him. Thank the Lord, they didn’t give up. They brought him back,” Charles Byars said.

The remains were flown back to Atlanta before dawn, escorted by the patriot guard military state troopers and dozens of officers from Atlanta and Clayton, Henry and Spalding counties.

Category: Blue Skies