Posted 1:23 am Sunday, September 18, 2011
Remains Of Korean War Era POW/MIA Finally Laid To Rest In Tyler
By MELISSA CROWE
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
It took peace negotiations, DNA testing and more than half a century for a Korean War soldier from Tyler to finally find his way home.
Family, friends and veterans gathered Saturday morning to honor the life and service of Sgt. Lee Dona Henry Jr., whose remains were buried in Tyler on National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Bro. Kenon Olison delivered the prayer at Henry's "home going celebration" at St. James C.M.E. Church, 408 N. Border Ave.
"It is only by God's hand ... that we are able to bring our fallen brother home," he said.
Henry's sister, Irajean, provided the DNA that was the final piece of the puzzle identifying the man who had been missing since 1950.
She and her younger brother, Clifton, said with thankful hearts after the ceremony, "He's home."
The Rev. Orenthia Mason, who officiated the ceremony, said the specifics of Henry's death are lost to history -- the when, where or how -- but "he fought the good fight."
"There were times when we were segregated, when blacks and whites didn't speak to one another," Rev. Mason said. "But it didn't matter what color skin we were; we went to serve our country."
The Korean War was one many soldiers "did not understand," she said, "but they did understand that they were going to do their best."
Henry was born March 21, 1928, in Tyler, to the late Lee Dona Henry Sr. and Maggie Nichols Henry, and was baptized into the Church of Christ at an early age and remained until death. He attended public schools in Tyler.
Because of his love of people, his quest to explore and serve his country, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17. Henry was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
He is entitled to the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one Bronze Service Star, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of Korea-Korean War Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and the Republic of Korea Presidential unit Citation.
Henry was presumed dead Dec. 31, 1950, in Busan, South Korea.
From South Korea, Henry traveled in repose, along with the remains of three other men, to Kokura, Japan.
At the time, military personnel suspected that one of bodies recovered from the grave might belong to Henry, but the technology did not exist at the time to make the identification.
The bodies were buried in National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, until investigators contacted his sister, Irajean, for a DNA sample in March.
When the Army contacted Mrs. Henry for DNA, she said she did not have much confidence it would help find her brother.
The notification came in the form of two bound books that chronicled the investigation that led to the identification and the trip, across two countries and an ocean, which would bring him home.
"Thank God he made it home," Rev. Willie McCalister said during Saturday's ceremony.
For Henry's siblings, his homecoming brings the closure they had been robbed of for so long and the answers to questions they dwelled on for 61 years.
"It's very touching to the spirit and the soul to know after all these years," Irajean said before her brother's remains arrived in Tyler. "I believe in the Army now that they really did what they said. After all these years, we couldn't ask for more."
