Wayne Minard was 17 when he joined the U.S. Army. (Bruce Stubbs)
Wayne Minard knew at an early age that he wanted to be a soldier.
He joined the Army when he was 17 after persuading his mother to sign his enlistment papers. His family thought he would go on to build a lifelong career in the military.
But his career as a corporal in North Korea lasted only two years.
Minard was reported missing in action on Nov. 26, 1950, the day after Chinese communist troops attacked United Nations forces and allies near the Ch’ongch’on River in North Korea, according to the Pentagon.
Minard’s unit was later ordered to withdraw. The farm boy from rural Kansas, then 19, was never seen or heard from again.
He was taken to a prison camp and starved, Bruce Stubbs, Minard’s great-nephew, told The Washington Post.
Now, after 65 years, Minard is finally coming home. His remains will arrive in Wichita on Wednesday.
Minard’s loved ones had always thought he would never be found, his great-nephew said.
But the family saw a sliver of hope in spring 2005, when an Army recovery team learned of a North Korea burial site that contained the remains of an American soldier. Scientists had obtained DNA samples from two of Minard’s sisters, according to the Pentagon. It would take another 11 years for his remains to be positively identified.
