they will always be young
they will always be beautiful
they will be in our hearts
they have become part of our souls
we will carry them with us always
and meet in the fullness of time.
(thank you labwitchy)
The siblings of Army Pfc. Elwood Reynolds dreamt their brother was alive for 57 years. It’s not that they really thought he was – it’s that they never had the closure of being able to lay him to rest.
The daughter of Army Capt. Edward B. Scullion, just 6 when her father left for Korea, said this upon hearing her father’s remains have been identified:
"I have known for almost 60 years that he was gone, but the identification "is a cause for celebration and a joyous thing."
The Reynolds and Scullion families finally have peace. And they will be reunited with their brave soldiers in the fullness of time.
Capt. Edward B. Scullion of Norfolk, VA and Pfc. Elwood Reynolds of Danville, VA – Home at Last
From the DoD:
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Capt. Edward B. Scullion of Norfolk, Va; and Pfc. Elwood D. Reynolds of Schoolfield, Va.; both U.S. Army. Reynolds will be buried April 18 in Danville, Va., and Scullion will be buried this summer in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.
Both men were members of A Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, then attached to the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 7th Infantry Division. The team was engaged against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, from Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 1950. Both soldiers died in late November as result of intense enemy fire, but their bodies were not recovered at the time.
During the Korean War, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir was a brutal battle fought in late November/early December 1950. By all accounts the UN forces, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, were vastly outnumbered and the weather was brutal.
Capt. Edward B. Scullion
Capt. Scullion's daughter, Mary S. Battaglia dedicated herself to finding her father’s remains eight years ago when she retired from teaching according to the Daily Press:
After retiring as a teacher at Epes Elementary School in Newport News in 2000, Battaglia sought to bring her father home.
"It was a matter of huge sadness," she said. "When I retired, I thought I really needed to find out what happened. It was something I needed to do."
Battaglia started attending annual conferences organized by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. In 2001, she managed to obtain mitochondrial DNA samples by getting in touch with two of her father's cousins, who agreed to give blood.
She also told the Washington Post that
...she wished any attention received by the family be focused on her father and on the Defense Department and other personnel, including forensic scientists, who devoted themselves to obtaining the remains and making the identifications.
They are, she said, "extremely dedicated" and among "the best and brightest."
The Post reported that "according to the American Battle Monuments Commission's Korean War Honor Roll Web site, Scullion was killed Nov. 28, 1950, while defending his position east of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea."
"He came out of his command post," his daughter said, "to alert his troops that they were under attack" at a time when there had been no sign of opposing forces. He received "multiple wounds," she said.
This was confirmed by eyewitness accounts you can read here andhere.
In the retreat of U.S. forces, Mary Battaglia told the Post that in the retreat of U.S. Forces here father was left on the frozen ground and perhaps later buried in a shallows grave.
His daughter also related how the identification was made possible:
Battaglia set about contacting relatives who could provide the DNA samples that officials said were needed to make identifications. Some, she said, she had not seen for many years, but "they made it so easy."
The Korean War Project tries to find relatives of missing Korean War soldiers so they can provide DNA. Its web site includes comments from people who knew Scullion.
"He was our company commander," Roy D. Oxenrider wrote. "I served under his command at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. . . . Capt. Scullion was a great Commander I had and still have the greatest respect for him."
According to the Post, Capt. Scullion’s act of heroism at Chosin was not his first:
He received a Silver Star during World War II after jumping into water under fire to pull out one of his men during a risky maneuver near a town in northern France in 1945.
Relatives said they had not known he could swim.
Among his other surviving relatives are a granddaughter and great-grandchildren who will be able to see Capt. Scullion buried with full military honors this summer at Arlington National Cemetry.
"I'm relieved they have identified him in my lifetime and they'll be able to bury him not far from his home," Battaglia said.
Battaglia hoped the news would provide encouragement for other families who are seeking to identify the remains of their loved ones lost in overseas conflicts. ~Source
May you now rest in peace, Capt. Scullion. You certainly earned it.
Pfc. Elwood Reynolds
This is a photo of the POW/MIA memorial tower which is dedicated to the POW/MIAs of Pittsylvania County, Pfc. Reynold’s native county in Virginia.
An MIA no longer, Pfc. Reynold’s siblings are grateful. As his sister, Barbara Scearce told the Danville Register & Bee there will be more Pentecostal shouts of joy than tears shed at his funeral, which will be held next week:
"This is going to be a Hallelujah time," she said. Her sister couldn’t agree more. "It’s going to be a happy occasion rather than a sad one," said Arlene Green. "We just praise God. We’re really happy."
Pfc. Reynolds was a ladies man at a tender age (he was younger than 20 when he died at Chosin), driving around Danville, VA in a 1937 Chevy, charming the girls with his outgoing personality, wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. His siblings recall Pfc. Reynolds as a kind man who was generous with his siblings, buying them presents and giving away produce he sold with his father to children who couldn’t afford it.
~Source
News of Pfc. Reynolds’ death hit his family hard and they’ve dreamed of him ever since because they lacked the closure of a funeral:
Stanley Reynolds was about 8 years old when his brother died. He was too young to understand the impact of his brother’s death, but he’ll never forget what it did to his mother.
Scearce was in the hospital after delivering a baby when news of her brother’s death arrived. Hospital staff would not let her look at a newspaper, and her pastor told her about Elwood’s death. "I cried for days and days," Scearce said.
Reynolds and Scearce admit they’ve had dreams about Elwood all these years. Reynolds said the dreams have stopped since they were told his remains had been identified earlier this year. Elwood’s brother and sister would see him sitting next to them on a bus. They could talk to him, but he was silent. Or they would see him walking on the old family farm on White Oak Mountain. Scearce would call out to him in her dreams, but he didn’t hear her. There were dreams where she would be aboard a troop train thinking her brother had amnesia, but she never found him.
You can see an interview with Pfc. Reynolds’ siblings here.
His sister Barbara:
"You have the dream sometime that he is still alive and you are going to see him and there is still hope that they made a mistake and he's not dead."
And his sister Arlene:
"It's sort of a mourning continually. There is no closure. And that little thought in the back of your head is always, could he still be alive somewhere?"
And his brother Stanley, too young to remember his older brother, is especially happy for Barbara:
"She's waited 57 years and prayed and longed for this day. It was a great day for me because of her, knowing that is was closure for her."
May you now rest in eternal peace, Pfc. Reynolds. You will always be young. You will always be beautiful.
REMEMBER THEM WELL
Remember our troops: those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, those who are still in harm’s way and those who have returned home:
In Remembrance
Please take a moment to honor the memories of our fallen service men and women who have passed through this world much too quickly.
You can view the stories and remembrances of these heroes at sites such as Iraq Veterans Memorial and Honor the Fallen.
Supporting the Troops
If you haven’t had a chance to put together a care package for a unit in Iraq or Afghanistan - it’s such a good feeling to know you are sending our troops things they really need. I’m not talking about the comforts of home – it’s necessities like socks and underwear and soup packets and feminine hygiene products and paper and pens...and school supplies, treats and trinkets they can pass out to the Iraqi and Afghan children. Basic things that they are so thrilled to receive.
There are a few ways to do this. You can go through troopcarepackage.com or anysoldier.com. If you go to the anysolider site click on WhereToSend for a searchable database. For example if you search "By Latest Email" you’ll see the troops who most recently have submitted a request for specific items. You then request their mailing address. Read Ninepatch’s wonderful diary on the how-tos of it all – it couldn’t be any easier thanks to her.
Operation Helmet is another great organization whose mission is to provide helmet upgrades.
Supporting Our Veterans
We have a solemn duty to ensure that our veterans are properly cared for. Consider visiting sites such as StandUp4Vets.org, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Welcome Back Veterans.org and Fisher House to see where your help is needed. Other ways to help can be found in this diary.
The Department of Defense has confirmed 4.027 deaths, according to Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. Approximiately 490 American troops have died in Afghanistan since 2001. This week, the icasualties.org site had a malicious attack on its server so must of its content has been temporarily pulled. Please consider supporting them when they are back up and running.
About the IGTNT series:
IGTNT stands for "I Got the News Today." The phrase is meant to symbolize that terrible knock on the door that any number of families got today, bringing with it the news that a loved one has died. IGTNT is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, MsWings, blue jersey mom, twilight falling, moneysmith, labwitchy, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI and me, greenies.
These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but an important service to those Americans who have died and to our community’s respect for and remembrance of them. If you would like to volunteer, even once a month, please contact Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, or noweasels.
Fallen soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and National Guard whose names have been released by the Department of Defense will usually be diaried two days after the official announcement on the DoD website. This allows the IGTNT team to cover each fallen service member more fully, but still in a timely manner.
|
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.