Veterans Day Reunion: Soldier's Remains Come Home After 67 Years

RACINE, WI — When Janet Baril was a child, she would go into the attic of her family’s home and open a dusty footlocker to pore over its contents. Inside, she would run her hands over an old army uniform, she would hold a Purple Heart in her hands, and would read through a pile of old letters.

The items belonged to her brother “Donnie,” as Baril, now 70 years old, calls him. For decades, these items were the last items Donnie left behind.

Nobody in Donnie's family knew what happened to him when he was declared missing in action in Korea, but after a 17-year search, Baril never gave up on her brother. Now, 67 years after he was lost, Donnie's remains have been found, and he's coming home.

Donnie is U.S. Army Corporal Donald L. Baer. His father served in World War I, and his three older brothers served in World War II. Donnie felt the family obligation to serve, and joined the Army in Racine, Wis. on June 28, 1948, at the age of 18.

North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 28, 1950. Donnie, who was with the 19th, 21st and his 34th regiment, was sent to Korea July 2, 1950, as a holding action. The men were ill-equipped and undermanned for what they found in Korea.

Donnie and company K were defending the airport and main road into Taejon, South Korea, on July 19, 1950, when fierce fighting began. In the early morning hours on July 20, 1950, Donnie went missing in action. He was declared dead, as were all unrecovered service members at the end of 1953.

Donnie was one of 8,177 United States servicemen who were designated as Missing In Action during the Korean War.

Baril was 3 years old when Donnie enlisted. As she grew up, she could feel his loss through the rest of her family. “My father had 13 children and I’m number 12. Donnie was No. 7,” Baril said. “I remember him from the impact he had on my family. It was my older siblings and parents who suffered the most.”

After a 17-year search that brought her in contact with military veterans, the Department of Defense, military historians and more research materials than she can list, she never gave up on Donnie.

Now, on Nov. 11, 2017, after 67 years, 3 months and 23 days, Donnie will rest between his father, Vernon, and older brother, George.

Donnie is coming home.

The Search

In 2001 Baril learned her family could submit DNA samples to the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in hopes that his remains would be recovered. The army came to her family’s location for a blood draw.

Baril obtained Donnie’s Army personnel files, and began trying to find a living veteran who may have known him. After attending veteran POW and also 24th Division reunions, she caught a break.

She learned that Wayne Parson was with Donnie on the road to Taejon on July 20, 1950. Parson was a career soldier. Having served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, he retired as a sergeant major and died in 2004. Parson said Donnie was lost in the battle of Taejon.

From there, Baril’s family began to connect the dots. In the military files she received from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, she learned that five sets of remains were recovered in the Taejon area from that battle.

One set of remains was identified. The other four were buried at Tanggok, South Korea, as unknown soldiers. In 1954 they were disinterred and sent to the mortuary in Kokura, Japan. They were later sent to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu for interment in 1956, where they rest undisturbed to this day.

The Discovery

In 2010, select documents at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific were declassified regarding a number of unknown soldiers, including Donnie’s. Now Baril had to find out which one of these X-Files was that of her long-lost brother. That led Baril to John Zimmerlee.

Zimmerlee, the nation's leading archival researcher on Korean War POW/MIA cases, and son of a Korean War POW/MIA, conducted research at the National Archives in Maryland, making connections between the names and artifacts that are attached to these X-Files, including Donnie’s. He made Baril aware in 2015 of the 24th Division helmet inscribed with Donnie’s name that was found in the Taejon area where the four unidentified remains were recovered.

With Zimmerlee’s guidance, Baril’s family requested disinterment of X-File 450 in 2015. When they were denied, they tried again in 2016 and were denied again. On Aug. 14, 2017, X-File 453 was disinterred by the military. Ten days later, it was positively identified as U.S. Army Corporal Donald L. Baer.

"On Sept. 28, I got a call from Casualty Officer William Cox, who told me they had a positive ID on Donnie," Baril said. "I was just overwhelmed. The first thing I did was call my sisters."

'They Did Not Die In Vain'

There are still 790 Korean war remains in Hawaii buried as unknown soldiers. Baril said families of these unknown soldiers have yet to submit the needed DNA to help with their identification.

"The families want to know that these young men did not die in vain," Baril said. "They’re appreciated by the people in South Korea who are living free and they’re appreciated here."

If a family wishes to find out more about loved ones that were lost or missing in action, Baril says the family needs to contact their loved one’s U.S. military branch of service to learn how to submit their DNA, or to request military records. If there are reunions and family updates pertaining to their loved one’s military division or unit, Baril says the military can put relatives into contact with those who attend.

"The families have to reach out to the military to get information and be involved," Baril said. “I think that family members have a role to play, and a right to know.”

For More Information

Please visit the online www.koreanwar.org created and maintained by Hal & Ted Barker to find more information about the needed DNA.

The DPAA maintains lists of servicemen who are still unaccounted for on various pages of their website. For each conflict, use the links below to search for the name of your loved one.

• WWII
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• Cold War
• Iraq/Other
• Recently Accounted for

Submitted Photo, Published With Permission