dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
After 56 years, GI comes home to Springfield family
By Sean Murphy, Globe Staff | May 13, 2006
Fifty-six years after he left for the Army, the remains of Henry Connell were returned to Springfield yesterday, and he will be buried today with full military honors.
Connell was 17 years old when he was killed in combat during the Korean War. His brother, Thomas, will be presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awarded posthumously to Corporal Henry Connell.
''The ceremony will include an honor guard, firing squad, and bugler," said Anthony Hanke, funeral home director. ''A colonel will represent the Army. It's to be a solemn, poignant service, a service long overdue for Corporal Connell."
After the services, at which a Catholic priest will officiate, Connell's remains will be buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetary in Springfield, Hanke said.
A Springfield native, Connell attended Cathedral High School before enlisting in the Army on his 17th birthday in 1950, according to a biography provided to Hanke by the Connell family and the military.
Connell was injured in September 1950, when he fell while evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield. He was sent to a military hospital in Japan, from which he was later reported erroneously to be absent without leave.
In fact, he returned to his unit, the Eighth Calvary Regiment, First Calvary Division, to fight in a four-day battle against the Chinese in November 1950, near Unsan, about 60 miles north of the capital, Pyongyang. From the Eighth Calvary, 1,000 were killed. Connell was declared missing in action.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea returned 208 boxes believed to contain remains of 200 to 400 US servicemen, according to Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office.
One of those boxes contained two dog tags of Connell, as well as human remains, Greer said. The accompanying North Korean documents indicated the remains had been exhumed in Unsan County.
Over the years, forensic anthropologists were able to determine that the box contained the remains of at least four individuals, including one of a young man age 14 to 18 and 70 inches tall, Greer said. Connell was three months short of his 18th birthday and 69.5 inches tall, Greer said. Scientists also used mitochondrial DNA to identify Connell, Greer said.
Connell's remains were flown in an urn under military escort from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
The remains of hundreds more Korean War soldiers and Marines are yet to be identified, Greer said.
The POW/MIA Accounting Command continues its attempts to make identifications, he said.
There are 8,100 servicemen missing in action from the Korean War, Greer said.
Rest in peace, soldier.
By Sean Murphy, Globe Staff | May 13, 2006
Fifty-six years after he left for the Army, the remains of Henry Connell were returned to Springfield yesterday, and he will be buried today with full military honors.
Connell was 17 years old when he was killed in combat during the Korean War. His brother, Thomas, will be presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart awarded posthumously to Corporal Henry Connell.
''The ceremony will include an honor guard, firing squad, and bugler," said Anthony Hanke, funeral home director. ''A colonel will represent the Army. It's to be a solemn, poignant service, a service long overdue for Corporal Connell."
After the services, at which a Catholic priest will officiate, Connell's remains will be buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetary in Springfield, Hanke said.
A Springfield native, Connell attended Cathedral High School before enlisting in the Army on his 17th birthday in 1950, according to a biography provided to Hanke by the Connell family and the military.
Connell was injured in September 1950, when he fell while evacuating wounded soldiers from the battlefield. He was sent to a military hospital in Japan, from which he was later reported erroneously to be absent without leave.
In fact, he returned to his unit, the Eighth Calvary Regiment, First Calvary Division, to fight in a four-day battle against the Chinese in November 1950, near Unsan, about 60 miles north of the capital, Pyongyang. From the Eighth Calvary, 1,000 were killed. Connell was declared missing in action.
Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea returned 208 boxes believed to contain remains of 200 to 400 US servicemen, according to Larry Greer, spokesman for the Pentagon's POW/MIA office.
One of those boxes contained two dog tags of Connell, as well as human remains, Greer said. The accompanying North Korean documents indicated the remains had been exhumed in Unsan County.
Over the years, forensic anthropologists were able to determine that the box contained the remains of at least four individuals, including one of a young man age 14 to 18 and 70 inches tall, Greer said. Connell was three months short of his 18th birthday and 69.5 inches tall, Greer said. Scientists also used mitochondrial DNA to identify Connell, Greer said.
Connell's remains were flown in an urn under military escort from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
The remains of hundreds more Korean War soldiers and Marines are yet to be identified, Greer said.
The POW/MIA Accounting Command continues its attempts to make identifications, he said.
There are 8,100 servicemen missing in action from the Korean War, Greer said.
Rest in peace, soldier.
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