Re: Korean War MIA Returned to Family After 50 Years

Date: June 15, 2004

"Family To Receive Remains Of Father Who Died In Korean War

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The Army is delivering on a 50-year-old promise to bring home the remains of a soldier who died during the Korean War to his family in North Carolina.

The military found the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Carl Brewington in a mass grave 50 years after after he died in a remote spot of North Korea.

"Maybe the government doesn't forget," said Bob Brewington, Carl Brewington's son.

Bob Brewington was 13 in December 1950 when a telegram about his father's disappearance arrived at his house in Quincy, Ill. His mother still made him go to school.

Five decades passed, and Bob Brewington thought of his father periodically. He eventually got a head stone made in memory of his father and placed it on the family plot in Missouri.

Over those 50 years, Brewington's mother and sister died. He left the Midwest to settle in North Carolina and raised seven children with his wife Joyce Brewington. He worked as a psychologist in Smithfield until his retirement in 2002.

"The thought that he would be found never entered my mind," he said.

But the military asked the Brewington family for DNA samples six months ago. Randy Brewington, a sheriff's deputy in Cumberland County and Bob's son, started making phone calls around the same time, looking for information about his grandfather.

Several weeks ago, Bob Brewington received a telephone call from a casualty assistance officer at Fort Bragg. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii has spent the past three years compiling details about Carl Brewington's death.

His unit, the 31st Regimental Combat Team of the 7th Infantry Division, was deep in North Korean territory when they were surrounded by Chinese soldiers. Brewington ended up missing.

In 1979, farmers discovered remains while digging post holes for a fence but they covered the grave. It was abandoned until 2001.

An American crew began in September unearthing the remains, but was told to leave. It returned in October and recovered the remains of 12 men, 11 Americans and one North Korean.

Brewington and Sgt. 1st Class Billy Grady Donahoe are the only two that have been identified so far. Scientists identified Brewington from dental records and an X-ray.

In July, the military will drape an Army blanket and a full dress uniform over the bones of Carl Brewington. Soldiers will escort the remains from Hawaii to Missouri, and the Brewington family will lay Carl Brewington to rest in Missouri.

"I imagine it will be emotional, regardless of how many years have gone by," Bob Brewington said.

But he wants other families to know that it is never too late to find a little peace.

"Don't give up," Randy Brewington said. "There's still that possibility. There's a soldier right now that they are trying to identify."

© 2004 by The Associated Press
© 2004, WSOC"