Corporal Robert Graham comes home

One of our ninjas sends us a link to the news that Corporal Robert Graham has finally returned home from his tour of the Korean War. Hondo told us that his remains had been identified in September 2015, and he finally completed his journey home to San Francisco last night;

[Nicole Venturelli, Robert’s niece] said her father kept a box of letters from his brother that he hid from her. She discovered it only after James Graham died. Venturelli said they included descriptions of the “relentless” Chinese forces, the “Siberian winter” with temperatures of 40 below zero, and finally a message in 1951 that his unit was heading out on on a secret mission.

That mission ended disastrously in the battle of Hoengsong, where Chinese troops routed U.S. and other United Nations forces. According to an Army report, Graham’s unit came under heavy attack and withdrew south to Wonju, where Graham was declared missing in action on Feb. 13, 1951.

Two years later, U.S. prisoners of war repatriated in an exchange with North Korea said Graham had been captured by enemy forces and held at the Suan POW camp, where he died of malnutrition on or about May 31, 1951. He was just 20 years old.

The Mercury News reports;

A memorial service for Graham will take place 11 a.m. Friday at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Ave. in Daly City. He will then be buried with full military honors at Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Mission Road in Colma. The public is invited to attend.

So, if you’re in the area, stop by and tell the good corporal that we send our regards.