The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A somber hero's welcome after years of uncertainty
Community honors one of its own for his sacrifice in Korean War.
TOCCOA — A hero whose memory was nearly lost to history has finally come home.
Nearly 70 years after Cpl. Terrell J. Fuller went missing in Korea, his remains are back in his hometown. A procession including law enforcement cruisers and a motorcycle honor guard escorted the hearse from the airport on Thursday, up I-85 and I-985 and then down the smaller roads into this picturesque spot in North Georgia.
Things started on a celebratory note, with flag-waving students from Toccoa Elementary School assembled on the grounds of the Stephens County Courthouse ahead of time and people in festive, patriotic gear happily greeting friends and neighbors.
But there was reverent silence as the conveyance made its way down Doyle Street, the down- town’s main thoroughfare.
“He deserves to be honored,” said Rick Duerr, who retired from the U.S. Navy in 1990 and wore his military dress uniform onThursday. “He died for our freedom.”
Family members will receive visitors from 4 to 7 p.m. today at Acree-Davis Funeral Home, 90 S. Pond St. The burial at Stephens Memorial Gardens on Saturday will be private, but residents are welcome to stand along the route from the funeral home to the cemetery, at 3650 Highway 17.
Amy Hix, Fuller’s great-niece,
said the family plans to leave the funeral home shortly after 10:30 a.m.
By the time the motorcade rumbled into town on Thursday, some had been waiting for hours. The sun was barely up as Tori Bauder was stringing patriotic bunting in front of her store, Victoria’s Sweet Treats. Then she and a friend, Sherry Westbrook, positioned a chalk sign by the sidewalk. “Welcome home Corporal Terrell Fuller,” it read.
A few doors down, Karen and Mike Crozier settled on the bench in front of B.J.’s Family Restaurant. He served as a U.S. Air Force surgical medic during Vietnam; her dad was a Japanese prisoner of war for three years during World War II.
“We’re amazed,” she said of Fuller’s homecoming after he went missing in Korea in 1951 and was presumed dead a few years later. His remains were recovered years ago but only recently identified, through DNA testing, and were flown in from Hawaii.
Fuller was about 20 when he joined the U.S. Army and was 23 by the time the military considered him gone. He attended school in Toccoa, may have played the guitar, and his father was a farmer. Other than that, we don’t know much about him. Hix said there are no living relatives in town who knew him and the only family photo she had of him shows him as a youngster holding a guitar, standing with his dad and a sister. Newspaper articles from the time of his military service give little information.
“Terrell J. Fuller Listed Among Korea Casualties,” reads a Toccoa Record headline from 1951. The bulletin lists him and others considered missing in action at the time but doesn’t go further. Two years later, Fuller made his hometown paper’s front page. “U.S. Says Reds Holding Toccoan,” reads the headline, which included a term for Communists that was in wide use during that era. The article, as was common in those days, was brief.
“Terrell J. Fuller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Fuller, Rt. 3, Toccoa, is one of 11 Georgians listed by the United States as still held a prisoner of war by the Communists in Korea,” it reads. “The parents, residents of the Toccoa Falls Community, have been informed by the Defense Department.”
That’s it.
The Atlanta Constitution articles from the time give a few more facts, including his father’s vocation, and indicate someone had a short interview with Fuller’s mother, but still don’t provide many details.
A search for Fuller’s possible high school yearbook didn’t go anywhere, either. The Toccoa-Stephens County Public Library, which keeps those old Toccoa Records on microfilm, also stocks some vintage copies of the Toccoa High School Anchor. Its collection, comprised of donations, dates back only to 1955.
Sharon Crenshaw, director of the Toccoa Welcome Center, was eager to help. The welcome center is housed in the historic Toccoa Depot, which is also home to the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, the Stephens County Historical Society and the Currahee Military Museum.
Crenshaw, who cheerily tells visitors they’ve walked into four places at once when they come through the depot door, called around town in search of anyone who might have a copy of a yearbook Fuller could have been in, or who might possibly have known him. No luck.
Still, she was heartened by the turnout on Thursday morning: “I’m proud of our little town.”
For Cub Scout Martin Raybon, 10, the welcome felt like a living history lesson. He helped his mom, Joann Raybon, set up flags along the procession route and recited some of the facts he’s been learning about Fuller.
“He was in the Korea War and he got captured,” explained Martin, a rising fifth-grader who said it was an honor and privilege to be part of the event.
Brandi Carter and Cassie Southers arrived early with Chaylei, 3, and Cooper, 1, to secure a place to sit. Carter’s late grandfather served in Korea, and she carried his memory in her heart as she waited to greet his fallen brother-in-arms.
“He was so proud of serving in that war,” she said.
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, shade became a choice commodity; covered seating was provided for veterans of the Korean War and other conflicts.
“It’s a sad situation, but it means a lot to us to see all the support,” said Ralph Tolliver, who was a paratrooper in Korea. “This is a big crowd.”
Roger Dulaney has few pleasant memories about his time on the peninsula, saying only, “It was cold. In the summertime, it rained.” He and fellow Korea veterans O.L. Agnew and Bob Codar felt somber.
“He’ll be buried on his birthday,” Dulaney noted. Fuller would have been 88 on Saturday.
Sharon Crosby, the city’s special events coordinator, zipped around in a golf cart, manning logistics and ferrying veterans to the viewing areas. At every stop, folks thanked the old soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines for their service.
“People say the Korean War was the forgotten war,” she said.
In Cpl. Terrell J. Fuller’s hometown, they remember.