Funeral for repatriated Korean War soldier brings closure
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea Ñ On a trip to the Demilitarized Zone in January 2000, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Jenkins peered into North Korea from a hilltop and thought about his uncle Ñ the man heÕd come to think of as Uncle Shorty.
ÒOut over the DMZ, I wrote a poem about my uncle still being there,Ó said Jenkins, now stationed with the 106th Transportation Battalion at Fort Campbell, Ky. ÒIt was really weird because shortly after that, I learned they sent a mission up into North Korea to recover remains. It never occurred to me they might find my uncle.Ó
It took 56 years, but JenkinsÕ great-uncle, Army Pfc. Francis Crater Jr., now is home for good.
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced this week that it positively had identified Crater, who died after an overwhelming Chinese assault in North Korea on Nov. 28, 1950.
Jenkins and his family laid Crater to rest in front of 150 people in Akron, Ohio, on Oct. 21.
ÒThe funeral we did was one of the most profound experiences of my life,Ó Jenkins said during a phone interview with Stars and Stripes.
Jenkins delivered the eulogy in front of his grandfather, Glenn Crater, 79, and other family members.
CraterÕs 32nd Infantry Regiment was assigned temporarily to the ArmyÕs 31st Regimental Combat Team on Nov. 27, 1950, when a massive and unexpected wave of Chinese soldiers attacked the heavily outnumbered United Nations forces.
Jenkins spoke to the lone U.S. survivor of that attack in CraterÕs unit.
ÒHe said [Crater] was fighting them off, hopping from one machine gun nest to the other,Ó Jenkins said. ÒHe saw my uncle fighting hand-to-hand in the nest, trying to save his comrades. When he last saw him, they were overrun in the nest.Ó
Crater had multiple bullet wounds and likely died from a Chinese bullet to the head, Jenkins said.
For Jenkins, itÕs an awe-inspiring story, made more so by CraterÕs 5Õ3Ó, 125-pound body and temperatures well below freezing.
The remaining allied troops were forced to retreat from the onslaught, leaving CraterÕs and othersÕ remains behind.
Between 2002 and 2003, CraterÕs comrades came back for him. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command excavated two adjacent mass graves on the eastern shore of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. The team found remains of eight people, including CraterÕs dog tags.
Recovery teams worked in North Korea from 1996 to 2005, when the United States suspended the effort due to force-protection concerns, said spokesman Larry Greer.
During that time, 225 people were recovered and 29 have been identified, Greer said during a phone interview.
ÒScientists spend considerable time segregating the remains to make sure theyÕre not inadvertently commingling,Ó Greer said. ÒWe donÕt want to return the wrong remains to the family.Ó
Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons to identify Crater. The DNA comparison came after tracking down CraterÕs relatives and taking samples, Greer said.
The family found out that 88 percent of CraterÕs remains had been identified about three months ago, Jenkins said.
Jenkins and his sister took it upon themselves to organize the funeral. He said their grandfather long had wished to let people know there was once a man in this world named Francis Crater.
ÒAt the funeral there were children, there were veterans and some were just proud Americans,Ó Jenkins said. ÒMy grandfather thought no one would care about Francis. He was in tears Ñ it really touched him.Ó
© 2006 Stars and Stripes