At exactly three o'clock on Monday afternoon, a seven-member honor guard pointed their rifles to the sky at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C., as a coffin draped with the Stars and Stripes was lifted from a hearse parked nearby. Six honor guards fell into step and carried the coffin 30 meters to the gravesite, where two large wreaths were laid on a blue carpet. Members of the family of Sgt. 1st Class Jack O. Tye of Loyall, Kentucky arrived in a deluxe limousine provided by the cemetery. They were followed by a dozen or so Korean War veterans living in nearby Virginia. Fifty-eight years after his death at the age of 20 in the Korean War, Sgt. Tye was finally returned to his homeland.
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A funeral is held at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington on Monday for Sgt. Jack O. Tye of Loyall, Kentucky, who died in the Korean War at age 20.
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After three artillery salutes, a guard who had been standing at attention at the rear blew his trumpet. Immediately afterward, the honor guards standing watch over the coffin began folding up the Stars and Stripes in precise movements. Once the 2m-long flag was folded into a compact triangle, a guard held it in his arms for three seconds. Bending his knee, he then delivered it to Tom Tye, 54, Sgt. Tye's younger brother, and the funeral came to an end.
Sgt. Tye died from malnutrition and medical neglect while being held in a Chinese POW camp near the Apnok (or Yalu) River in North Pyongan Province. Enlisting in the army as an 18-year-old high school student, Tye was sent to Korea in 1950 where he was assigned to the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was at the forefront as his division advanced north following the successful allied Incheon Landing in September 1950. In November 1950, during the Battle of the Cheongcheon River in North Pyongan Province, Tye was captured by Chinese forces.
In 2002, joint U.S.-North Korean teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) headquartered in Hawaii, investigated and excavated a mass burial site along a route used to move U.S. prisoners to permanent POW camps along the Apnok River. After a four-year effort, the remains of Sgt. Tye were finally identified in March this year, and JPAC met with his next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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