Remains of soldier listed MIA in 1950 coming home
Cpl. Joseph Gregori was reported MIA in 1950. His remains have been identified and will be coming back home in about a month to be buried.
By KALEN CHURCHER
Times Leader (Pa.)
"There was never a day that went by that I didn't think of him. I always thought he'd come home, but never this way."
Lena Gregori, Mother of Army Cpl. Joseph Gregori, who was reported missing in action.
WEST PITTSTON, Pa. Ð Lena Gregori, her 93-year-old blue eyes glistening with tears, still remembers Nov. 1, 1950 Ð the day a telegram that said her son was missing in action arrived at her doorstep.
"I was beside myself," she said, holding tightly a framed picture of her son, Army Cpl. Joseph Gregori. Gregori, known to his family as Sonny, went missing during the Battle of Unsan in North Korea on Oct. 31, 1950. "I said, ÔJoseph, my life won't be the same. Part of me is gone with you.'?"
Nearly 56 years later, Gregori experienced similar feelings when she learned the remains of her eldest son Ð a member of Battery C, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division Ð were found with his dog tags, and that her son would finally be coming home.
According to Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA Office, an interview with a North Korean farmer led to Gregori's remains.
"On July 4, 2000, a (remains recovery) team inside North Korea interviewed a North Korean farmer who said in the previous year he was participating in some land reclamation work and that they uncovered some human remains believed to be U.S."
Within the next two weeks, a large number of skeletal fragments and teeth were found in addition to Gregori's tags.
On May 23, Norma Frushon received word that her brother's remains were positively identified. Frushon, 68, and her family had submitted DNA samples to the government that could be used for comparative purposes.
Margaret Dzanis, 76, of West Pittston, said her sister drove in from New Jersey to tell the family about how the remains of a U.S. serviceman had been identified.
Dzanis recalled her sister saying, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was Sonny?"
She then put her arm around her mother and said, "Well, it is Sonny."
"There was never a day that went by that I didn't think of him," Gregori said. "I always thought he'd come home, but never this way."
On Tuesday, military officials visited with the family, including brother Alfred, 72, at Dzanis and Gregori's home and explained the circumstances surrounding the soldier's retrieval. The family anticipates receiving the remains within a month. Greer said a soldier will accompany the casket from Hawaii to West Pittston, where a military funeral will take place. Rucupero Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
Gregori said her son could have been buried in Arlington National Cemetery, but she prefers to have him close by where she can visit and talk to him.
Dzanis hopes her family's story will give others the incentive to submit DNA.
"There's a lot of boys out there," she said. "They said there are 30 (missing from the Korean War) in Pennsylvania alone."
According to Greer, the remains of the other seven servicemen found with Gregori have been identified.
The Battle of Unsan was one of the most devastating losses of the Korean War, with nearly 400 men reported missing, Greer said. More than 8,100 American servicemen from the Korean War have yet to be accounted for.