Veteran Hoping 3 North Texans In Korean War Among Remains Returned To US
ANNA, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The return of 55 sets of war remains by North Korea to the U.S. military is something R.D. Foster of Anna had hoped for years he would see.
"That's amazing to me. I'm happy to see this. I'd be really anxious to see what are the results and who these guys are," said Foster.
Foster is hoping the remains retrieved will include three Collin County men who went to battle during the Korean War, and who never returned.
After learning about them, Foster decided to do some research. "I felt even though I didn't know those guys, as much research as I've done on them, I feel like I know them."
Foster says they include Clarence Williams of Plano, in the Marines. "He was captured when his unit was overrun. There was word later he was a prisoner of war."
James Trosclair, of McKinney, in the Air Force. "They were shot down on a bombing mission over North Korea."
And Andy Tishler of McKinney, in the Army. "His unit was overran and a lot of those guys were never seen again."
Despite Foster's best efforts, he said he could never locate the families of these three men.
The U.S. military will soon transfer the remains from South Korea to Hawaii, where they will undergo testing.
North Korea allowed our military to retrieve them on the 65th anniversary the Korean War ended.
About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are considered missing from this war and 5,300 of the remains are still thought to be in North Korea.
Foster is a veteran himself, who saw combat in Vietnam.
He wrote a book on the Vietnam War called "One Day As A Lion" eleven years ago, after a man he graduated high school with forgot that Foster's best friend never came home from Vietnam.
Then, Foster, along with another friend, led the effort to build the Veterans Memorial Park in McKinney -- because he thought all war veterans should be remembered. "A soldier is never dead until he's forgotten, and so as long as we have those names on that wall out there, they're still around. Their memories are still around."