Family gets longed-for news about Korean War pilot's remains: It's him
By DAVID FLICK The Dallas Morning News
After more than 50 years, the family of Capt. Troy Gordon Cope has received official confirmation of his death in the Korean War.
A report late last month by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii said the DNA in bone fragments found at the 1952 crash site of an F-86 fighter jet in Dandong, China, matched that of Capt. Cope's brother, Carl.
Though the report's results had been expected, Chris Cope, Capt. Cope's nephew and Carl's son, said family members had thought for years that they might never know his fate.
"I'm just elated that things have finally progressed to this point. So many people have missing relatives and never know what happens to them," said Mr. Cope, of Plano.
The family plans to bring Capt. Cope's remains home from Hawaii in May, with a memorial service planned for May 31, the day after Memorial Day.
Last Memorial Day, Chris Cope called family members from Dandong, where he had accompanied a U.S. military forensics team, to say that human remains and artifacts, such as portions of a pilot's flight suit, had been found at the crash site.
It was in the skies over Dandong that Capt. Cope's plane was shot down Sept. 16, 1952. He was reported missing in action, although the family later heard rumors, since proved false, that he had been captured and taken to the Soviet Union.
Chris Cope was so confident that the remains were those of his uncle that he planned details of the funeral services immediately upon his return from China.
Burial will be in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
E-mail dflick@dallasnews.com