GRANT, Mich. — It's been 70+ years since Thomas A. Smith from Grant, MI, was killed during the Korean War. However, his grave at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery has been empty this whole time because Smith's remains were never identified — until now.
John Smith, Thomas's brother, has been waiting for this news since he was in elementary school. He was just 7 years old when Thomas joined the Army.
“That’s the last time I seen him," John said.
Thomas was 17 years old at the time. John said he only has vague memories of his older brother because of the age difference. That's why he's held on to so many pictures of Thomas because it's his only way to feel a connection.
“That’s Tom right there, and he’s got his arms on my shoulders," John said, looking at one of the only photos of them together.
In April 1950, John's family received a handwritten letter from Thomas. They've since noted it was sent while Thomas was training in Japan right before he was sent to Korea when the Korean War began just a couple months later.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), Thomas was a "member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 2 when his unit took part in defensive action near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean peninsula. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered, and there is no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war."
Decades would pass, but John said the story would always remain the same.
“We got notices every year that they were still searching for his remains and, you know, hopefully finding them," John said.
The Army declared Thomas dead on Dec. 31, 1953. Thirty years later, they even held a service for Thomas at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery, assuming his body would never be recovered.
Then, last September, John got a call. DPAA scientists said they used dental and anthropological analysis to finally identify Thomas's remains, right before John considered giving up hope.
“Somewhat, yeah," he said. "But it's quite amazing that they found his body.”
His burial site, which was empty this whole time, can now be filled. With that, so too is the one piece missing from John's life, before he and Thomas reconnect in the next one.
“We're Christian people, and we'll all meet someday in Heaven," John said. "Well, I'll get to see him. I truly believe that.”
John said there will be a new memorial service for Thomas at the Bridgeton Township Cemetery sometime in June. His remains, which John said are currently at the Hickam Air Force base in Hawaii, will be flown to Grant and buried beside his family, right where John said his brother has belonged this whole time.
According to the DPAA, "Since 1982, the remains of over 450 Americans killed in the Korean War have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. This number is in addition to the roughly 2,000 Americans whose remains were identified in the years following the end of hostilities, when the North Korean government returned over 3,000 sets of remains to U.S. custody."
"Under 7,500 Americans are still unaccounted-for from the Korean War, hundreds of whom are believed to be in a 'non-recoverable' category," the DPAA reports.
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