Veteran’s remains, missing for nearly 70 years, returns home

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The remains of Wilcox County’s only serviceman to be killed in the Korean War returned home Thursday. It’s a reunion that took 67 years, from the time Cpl. Leslie Sutton was declared missing from North Korea.

“It’s a wonderful feeling bringing one home that’s been lost for so many year,” David Blanton, of the Patriot Guard Riders said.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports Cpl. Sutton, 24, was fighting North Korean forces in 1950. But Chinese forces began helping North Korea.

“Huge mass of people, I mean they sent millions of troops across the border,” Bill Paul said, Collection Manager at the Museum of Aviation said.

Cpl. Sutton was reported missing that year, and on December 31, 1953 after not showing up on POW lists, Cpl. Sutton was declared dead.

The DPAA gained access to North Korea in 2000 and found remains. With lab work, 67 years later, scientists identified remains being those of Cpl. Sutton’s.

And after all this time, Cpl. Sutton is home.

He was escorted to his home town of Rochelle, Georgia, where he will be buried with full military honors on Saturday.

Today, 7,745 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.