To the calm, Mother Earth's
Waiting breast;
Duty done, Like the sun:
Going West.
Posted on 12/04/2007 1:04:44 PM PST by Dubya
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is 1st Lt. Dixie S. Parker, U.S. Army, of Green Pond, Ala. He will be buried Dec. 6 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Representatives from the Army met with Parker’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.
Parker was assigned to Battery B, 8th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division then occupying a defensive position overlooking the Kuryong River in P’yongan-Pukto Province, North Korea. On Nov. 27, 1950, Parker was killed in his foxhole while serving as a forward artillery observer. His body was not recovered.
In 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a site overlooking the Kuryong River in P’yongan-Pukto Province where U.S. soldiers were believed to be buried. The team recovered human remains and non-biological evidence including Parker’s identification tags and first lieutenant rank insignia.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in the identification of Parker’s remains.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.
RIP.
Welcome home,sir!
Welcome home sir, you were missed.
I am glad he is home now. I bet he was missed by his troops though, growing up with a name like Dixie you just know his hand to hand combat skills were first rate.
I know being buried in Arlington is an honor, but a guy with a name like Dixie who is from the South, should be buried in the South.
Actually, considering that Arlington was Robert E. Lee’s family home, and confiscated by the Federals at the start of the WBTS? I think it’s pretty appropriate for a soldier named Dixie to be buried there! :)
}:-)4
Well for what it’s worth, it is south of the Mason Dixon...
I think it is probably OK, considering Arlington’s previous owner...
I was down in Memorial Park in my town a couple of years back, and found at marker for Lt. Charles Harker, an F-84 pilot shot down over Korea who is presumed to have been taken and held captive in the Soviet Union for the remainder of his life. I had no idea such things happened in the Korean War. The Soviets were truly a barbaric regime.
Arlington is in the South.
He will be right at home. It was after all Robert E. Lee’s home first.
Thanks to all for correcting me on North and South. I get a C- in geography this week.
Here is some help in history.
We aim to educate at FR. Here is a link to the history of Arlington.
I once drove out to Boston from Indianapolis. The map showed that we were to cross the Erie Canal. In my imagination I thought this would be some HUGE deal, and was almost disappointed when it wasn’t. We had sung the songs all about the mules pulling the cargo. In fact most of the historical sights I have visited have been quite ordinary. It was the courage of our people and the accomplishments that were huge.
Oh my and now you’re in Indiana. That must have been culture shock. I spent a lot of time in Ohio but some in Southern CA and a few other states. I’m at home here in the South. The canals in Ohio were so narrow they would just walk the horse or donkey along the edge and the “barge” would be in the canal. LOL. I was disappointed also.
The best thing imo, in the east and south are the battle fields. If you read the history first then go to Gettysburg, Manassass, Shiloh, oh and of course Arlington cemetery.
I’ve found few landmarks that I wanted to go back to after seeing them once, i.e, the grand canyon, niagra falls, the St. Louis gateway.
I liked California in the 70’s but not now. It’s sad what’s happened to it, not to mention I couldn’t afford it now!
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