One family has had the remains of their father who died in the Korean War identified:
Brothers Charles (left) and Larry McDaniel stand beside a memorial wall holding the name of their father at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Sept. 21, 2018.
On Friday, brothers Charles and Larry McDaniel ascended the Punchbowl Cemetery’s monument displaying the names of roughly 24,000 servicemembers who remain missing from the Korean War and the Pacific theater of World War II.
They climbed up scaffolding to reach the spot where their father’s name, Charles McDaniel, Sr., is inscribed in stone and placed a bronze rosette next to his name, indicating he is missing no more.
During an earlier ceremony at the cemetery observing the annual National POW/MIA Recognition Day, Charles McDaniel, Jr., told an audience of 300 how the remains of his father were suddenly and dramatically found.
When North Korea turned over 55 boxes possibly holding the remains of Americans who died in the Korean War in July, McDaniel greeted the news with caution.
He was three and a half when he last saw his father, who was declared missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, during the Korean War.
The elder McDaniel, who was a medic, was one of more than 5,000 American servicemembers whose remains are believed to be in North Korea.
“So I figured, 55 sets of remains: 1 percent chance or less” his father’s remains would be among them, McDaniel said. “You kind of push it back, like you have to with grief.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link, but their father was one of the remains recently returned by North Korea.
Charles McDaniel, Jr., holds the dog tag worn by his namesake father during the Korean War. His father’s remains and dog tag were returned by North Korea in July.
