Honoring Our Fallen Veterans

There were more than 8,000 U.S. military personnel missing in action from the Korean War (1950-53).  One of them came home this week.  His remains were met by an Honor Guard from Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO.  The U.S. Army Honor Guard includes Tim Jones, son of Baltimore’s Paul Jones.

Remembering the Sacrifice

   There were 6.8 million Americans who served during the Korean War; 54,200 died in service during the period of hostilities—of those, 33,700 were actual battle deaths; there were 7,140 POW’s during the Korean War.  Of those, 4,418 returned to the United States, 2,701 died.  The remains of Corporal Floyd E. Hooper returned this week. 

    Corporal Hooper was 27 when he was captured in February 1951 and held captive in North Korea.  Other Prisoners of War told officials of how he died of dysentery and malnutrition. He had been in captivity only a few months. His remains were only recently identified through a DNA sample submitted in 2004 by the last of his three brothers, who has since died. 

   Hooper was born on February 24, 1924. He grew up in a small town on the eastern plains of Colorado and about 30 miles west of the Kansas border. He attended high school in his hometown, attended Anderson College in Indiana, and joined the Army.  Hooper and his unit were sweeping an area south of the Han River when they encountered Chinese Communist forces that were supported by artillery. Surviving POWs told about how he had been held in a POW camp in what is now North Korea before he died.

    60 years later there is no one left to remember or mourn Corporal Hooper; all of Corporal Hooper’s relatives are now deceased.  Corporal Hooper was one of 6.8 million called to duty and one of those who gave the supreme sacrifice in a war long over and now little remembered.  But, for the Army which never forgets. 

   Tim Jones is part of that honorable tradition.  Tim is stationed at Ft. Carson and is currently assigned to the honor guard in his unit. He assists in the funeral duties of our fallen soldiers that live in that area, no matter when they may have passed. “I am very proud of him,” said dad, Paul Jones.