The remains of 55 presumed Americans turned over by North Korea were welcomed back to American soil Wednesday in a solemn ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor- Hickam.
With them came the hope — however slight — that a greater peace may be possible on the Korean Peninsula.
Two Hawaii-based C-17 aircraft flew back from Osan Air Base in South Korea with the remains and parked tail-to-tail for the “honorable carry ceremony” that started just after 1 p.m. and included the appearance of Vice President Mike Pence.
Two groups of 16 honor guard personnel carried four of the aluminum transfer cases at a time into Hangar 19 and carefully positioned them on stands.
Pence had his hand over his heart and Adm. Phil Davidson, head of U.S. Indo- Pacific Command on Oahu, saluted the fallen service members’ return, which ended with the playing of taps.
“Some have called the Korean War the ‘forgotten war,’ ” Pence said. “But today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today, our boys are coming home.”
The remains were expected to be moved following the ceremony to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s $85 million lab and administrative offices on Hickam for identification — a process that could take years.
Current military members and Korean War and Vietnam veterans stood and also saluted as the caskets were brought into the hangar.
“It was heartwarming for me,” said Korean War veteran Stan Fujii, 87. “It almost made me cry seeing the remains coming home. I pray to God and thank God for bringing them home.”
James Kaleohano was 17 when he was sent to Korea in 1950-51 to be a machine gunner.
“That was the roughest time. In fact, I got there in November — just prior to the Chinese hitting our lines,” the now-85-year-old Nanakuli resident said.
He remembers he was “miserable, cold, scared. Everything (that) happens in combat.”
More than 36,000 Americans were killed and over 100,000 were injured in the 1950-53 war, which ended with a cease-fire armistice — but not a peace treaty.
Kaleohano said he felt it was important to attend the repatriation ceremony “because I feel like I am part of it. We made it back. They didn’t. I always say, some gave some, some gave all.”
The remains turnover — the first in more than a decade — was agreed to by North Korea during President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore.
Pence said “today is just a beginning” after Trump “secured a promise from Chairman Kim to return the remains of all fallen U.S. service members lost in North Korea.”
“I know that President Trump is grateful that Chairman Kim has kept his word, and we see today as tangible progress in our efforts to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
Following the summit, the Pentagon announced it was canceling this month’s planned Ulchi Freedom Guardian war games consistent with Trump’s “commitment to North Korea and in concert with South Korea.”
Despite North Korea’s pledge to “work toward” denuclearization, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted on July 25 that North Korea was still producing “fissile material” for nuclear weapons. The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported that U.S. spy agencies believe North Korea is working on new intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Ralph Cossa, president emeritus and WSD-Handa chair in peace studies at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, said the remains turnover “is an important gesture by the North Koreans which keeps the process alive — and keeps the pressure on Trump to deliver something in return.”
North Korea seeks a peace treaty as part of a possible longer-term goal of the removal of U.S. forces from the peninsula.
Cossa added that “none of this (the remains return) moves us closer to denuclearization, which is the ultimate objective.”
The last repatriation of remains from North Korea occurred in 2007, when a delegation to the North led by then-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson received six boxes from the reclusive nation.
The accounting agency said there’s a likelihood that there may be more than 55 individuals represented in the recent turnover.
Some may be portions of previously repatriated Americans, and some may belong to non-U.S. personnel. DNA and isotope testing will serve as forensic discriminators.
“This is a humanitarian endeavor, and this first step is one we hope to repeat and sustain with (North Korea) in the months and years ahead,” the agency said.
