Korean War sgt. buried after 57 years

[Woodmonkey]

Korean War sgt. buried after 57 years

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Carl Koon and Alice Crapps bid a final farewell to their brother, more than 57 years after he died during a 30-mile march as a POW in North Korea.

Army Sgt. 1st Class George Koon of Leesville, who was recently identified through DNA, was buried Saturday with full military honors at Old Lexington Baptist Church Cemetery. He was laid to rest with the granite marker that has borne his name.

A memorial service was held in 1951 without his remains. Rev. John McKeown told more than 100 family members, friends and others attending the funeral that the family would again have to walk through a valley of tears.

“Out of an excruciatingly painful experience, this family now comes to bring closure to a haunting mystery that they have endured for 57 years,” he said.

Koon was taken captive by Chinese forces after the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River, a fierce conflict between Chinese and American troops.

“He was a loyal and faithful soldier,” McKeown said. “Faithful in his oath. Faithful in his duty ... faithful to his country.”

Rev. George Koon, who was named after the uncle he never met, delivered the eulogy, saying his uncle, who also served in World War II, admired soldiers, striving to be the best, and never looked back.

“My Uncle George paid a price for our way of life, as have so many others before him and after him, and we honor today all of them as well,” he said.

His uncle was buried along the POWs walking route north of Kunu-ri in North Korea.

Saturday’s ceremony occurred on Armed Forces Day. Two South Carolina State Guard sergeants on draft horses with the South Carolina Military Department’s Caisson Detachment pulled the flag-draped casket to the grave site on a caisson and limber.

There was a 21-gun salute. “Taps” was played. Tears were shed. Soldiers with the 187th Ordnance Battalion at Fort Jackson, who were wearing white gloves, folded the American flag, and 1st Sgt. David Gutrick presented it to Carl Koon, slowly raising his hand and saluting him.

Then, Sgt. 1st Class Clarice Lockhart, who sang “God Bless America” during the service, presented Carl Koon with the flag casing containing his brother’s medals. Before the service, Gutrick said soldiers never leave fallen comrades.

“We never stopped searching,” he said.

Sgt. Koon was one of 11 individuals in a mass grave found by U.S. authorities, assisted by North Korean officials, in 2002. Two and a half years ago, Carl Koon gave a blood sample, and the DNA only recently was matched.

Sgt. Koon’s family was notified in 1951 that he had died of malnutrition and dysentery, based on interviews with other prisoners of war, but decades had passed before his body was found. Evidence shows he died in late 1950 of malnutrition and lack of medical care while being marched from Kunu-ri to a POW camp along the Yalu River, military records show.

Dale Austin of Elgin, a member of the South Carolina chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group that supports fallen military personnel, showed up with about 30 other members to pay respects.

“We know the loss was a long time ago, but it doesn’t change the hurt,” he said.

Carl Koon, 88, said he and his 96-year-old sister had come to accept that their brother’s grave may remain empty. Of his eight siblings, they are the only ones still alive.

“There might not be that many more curves in the road, but we lived to see him come home,” he said. “I wanted to see him come back home.”

The Source