Ceremony Honors Return of Korean War Servicemen Remains

A ceremony was held in Hawaiʻi on Wednesday honoring the return to US soil of dozens of remains that North Korean leaders say were servicemen killed in the Korean War.

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) was among those who attended the repatriation ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

“Thousands of families across the United States have waited more than six decades to be reunited with their loved ones who were lost in the Korean War,” said Rep. Gabbard in a statement following the ceremony.  “The cost of war is personal and lives on for each of these families of POW/MIA servicemembers. This is a historic day for our country and for our families who have suffered loss as we remember those who sacrificed all. We can best honor them by strengthening our resolve and commitment to peace, denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and finally bringing an end to the Korean War.”

According to the US Department of Defense, 7,697 personnel from the Korean conflict are still unaccounted for.  According to Rep. Gabbard, 5,300 of those are believed to be North of the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.

Ceremony Honoring Return of Korean War Servicemen Remains. Photo courtesy: Office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Ceremony Honoring Return of Korean War Servicemen Remains. Photo courtesy: Office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Ceremony Honoring Return of Korean War Servicemen Remains. Photo courtesy: Office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard talks with Jim Hickerson (left), a Vietnam War POW, and Carole Hickerson (center), who designed the image that later became the POW/MIA flag. Photo courtesy: Office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard