A ceremony at DFW National Cemetery on Friday morning was seven decades in the making.
Army Cpl. R.B. Cherry got a military sendoff with honors, and his family got closure.
"I can't even explain the feeling that you get knowing that he's on American soil," said Erma Flemmings, Cherry's niece.
Cherry wasn't old enough to vote when he enlisted in the Army at 17 years old and went to North Korea. He was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, according to an Army news release.
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He was reported missing in action Nov. 27, 1950, at age 19, near Anju, North Korea.
"According to information provided by POWs who were returned after the war, it was determined that Cherry died of pneumonia, as a POW, in Camp 5 sometime during the winter of 1950," the Army release said. "His remains were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the camp and were not recovered."
Cherry's remains were among the POW remains sent to Hawaii in 1956. It took decades and DNA testing to identify his remains and bring him home.
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"There's still over 7,000 people that are still missing," said Sheila Kirvin, Cherry's niece. "So, it gives hope to other families that their family members will come home as well."
At the ceremony, Cherry was awarded the Purple Heart for his service. His only surviving sibling, younger brother Ulysses Cherry, wiped away tears as he was given the Purple Heart and flag from his brother's coffin.
"He's home," Flemming said.
