Remains Of Korean War POW Returned To NH
EXETER, N.H. (CBS/AP) — The remains of a New Hampshire soldier taken prisoner during the Korean War returned to his hometown of Exeter Monday for burial with full military honors.
Relatives of Army Cpl. Elmer Richard were at Logan Airport in the rain as his remains — identified through his brother's DNA — arrived via military escort.
A church service and burial will be Wednesday on what would have been Richard's 85th birthday.
He was captured in Korea in 1950 at the age of 20 and died in captivity.
His sister, Jeannette McDonnell, said their mother died in 1993 after decades of trying in vain to learn her son's fate.
Richard was one of 12 Korean War POWs from New Hampshire to be posthumously awarded a Purple Heart five years ago.
McDonnell said it was just before last Christmas when she received a phone call regarding her brother.
She told the Portsmouth Herald she had already seen four brothers fight in World War II, and when Elmer announced he would be volunteering for the Korean effort, the family was firmly against it.
"We'd already been through four years of worrying - we just thought we couldn't take it anymore," McDonnell said.
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In a letter dated Nov. 17, 1953, McDonnell and her family first received word that Richard had possibly died due to wounds and dysentery, and an investigation would ensue.
McDonnell added, "My mother had great faith in Elmer and in the war effort . This would be closure for her."
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