The quest to bring closure

In every war there will be those who are killed and those who are wounded, and combat also can mean that some will be unaccounted for. When the battles are over and units begin their headcounts, there may be some troops missing, and it is not immediately known whether those troops have been killed and which ones may have been captured.

The search for the missing may take decades, with only limited help from our former enemies. If human remains are found, modern forensic science can help identify the remains by comparing the found DNA with that of surviving family members. Sometimes we are given artifacts found with the remains, and these can assist with the identification. It is a tedious process.

The assistance provided by most countries has been helpful, but there have been some exceptions. Military missing in Korea have been a challenge at times. The North Koreans have been known to simply deliver boxes of bones with little additional information, and it can take years to identify the remains.

Sixty-five years ago, Chinese forces overran American units at the Choisin Reservoir, and the subsequent rapid withdrawal of the American units meant that many dead and wounded were left behind. Other American units suffered similar fates as the Chinese and North Korean Armies mounted large attacks that overpowered American positions.

American Army Master Sgt. Ernest Grainger was missing after an enemy assault in 1950, and his remains have now been returned to his family in Conway, South Carolina.

Corp. George Mason was reportedly captured but never returned. Now, he is coming home to Byhalia, Mississippi, to be buried with his parents.

Army Sgt. Joseph M. Snock Jr. was lost in 1950, and his remains were found in 28 boxes of remains turned over to the U.S. between 1990 and 1994. He was returned to the U.S. to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

This is only a small sampling of American missing recovered from North Korea whose families have gotten some closure with their return. Please remember that there are thousands of families waiting for similar closure from other conflicts. For the families of the missing, the wars that cost them so much have never really ended.