Pence welcomes home presumed Korean War dead
HONOLULU — Decades after the end of the Korean War in 1953, the remains of dozens of presumed U.S. war dead returned Wednesday to Hawaii for analysis and identification. The U.S. military believes the bones are those of servicemen from the U.S. and other United Nations countries who fought on behalf of South Korea during the war.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a ceremony before the flag-draped containers holding the remains were carried off airplanes as solemn music played.
“Whosoever emerges from these aircraft today begins a new season of hope for the families of our missing fallen,” Pence said. “Hope that those who are lost will yet be found. Hope that after so many years of questions, they will have closure.”
Each container was accompanied by one Marine, one sailor, one soldier and one airman. They set the caskets on risers inside the hangar as Pence stood with his hand over his heart. Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, saluted.
North Korea handed over the remains last week. A U.S. military plane made a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve the 55 cases.
There are 7,699 U.S. service members listed as unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War, of which about 5,300 are believed to have died on North Korean soil. The remainder are those who died in South Korea but have not been recovered, those who died in air crashes at sea or on ships at sea and a number who are believed to have been taken to China.
Hanwell Kaakimaka’s uncle, John Kaakimaka, is among those who never came home.
“We’ve been watching the news, and we’ve been hopeful that my uncle is among the remains,” he said.
His uncle, who was from Honolulu, was a corporal in the 31st Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division. He was lost on or about Dec. 2, 1950.
Hanwell Kaakimaka said the story he heard from his dad was that his uncle had been injured and was being brought back from the front when Chinese troops overran the area.
If John Kaakimaka’s remains are ever identified, his family wants him to be buried in a cemetery at the base of Diamond Head crater in Honolulu because that’s where his parents and brothers were laid to rest, Hanwell Kaakimaka said.
The Kaakimaka family provided DNA samples to the U.S. military’s Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency over a decade ago, hoping officials would be able to make a match.
The agency identifies remains of servicemen killed in past conflicts. It typically uses bones, teeth and DNA to identify remains along with any items that might have been found with remains like uniforms, dog tags and wedding rings. But North Korea provided only one dog tag with the 55 boxes it handed over last week.
Before the remains were put on military planes bound for Hawaii, hundreds of U.S. and South Korean troops gathered at a hanger at the Osan base in South Korea for the repatriation ceremony.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said last week that the return of the 55 boxes was a positive step but not a guarantee that the bones are American.
A U.S. defense official said Tuesday that it probably will take months if not years to fully determine individual identities from the remains.
The repatriation is a breakthrough in a long-stalled U.S. effort to obtain war remains from North Korea. The bones’ return was part of an agreement reached during a June summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump thanked Kim for the return.