Cambridge Veteran's Remains Return Home After 65 Years
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) -- Long after he left to fight in the Korean War, a Cambridge man finally came home Tuesday.
Army Cpl. Ronald Sparks went missing in action in Korea in February 1951. After the war, a returning POW reported that Cpl. Sparks died in a prisoner of war camp in North Korea in May 1951--when he was just 20 years old.
The Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient was honored Tuesday with a procession and ceremony at Cambridge City Hall after his remains arrived at Logan Airport.
The procession, which included members of the Arlington Police and Fire Departments, stopped briefly at Sparks' childhood home on River Street in Cambridge, where members of the Legion.
The procession then went on to City Hall for a welcome home ceremony and the playing of Taps before continuing to Arlington.
Residents were encouraged to line Mass Ave to pay their respects as the procession passes.
"I'm very happy that my brother's home," Cpl. Sparks' sister Irene said.
Earlier this year, the military matched Sparks' DNA with that of an unknown soldier buried in Hawaii. Jeff Chunglo, Arlington's Director of Veterans Services. said Sparks's nephew Bob was instrumental in assisting in providing DNA samples.
"His body was returned to the U.S., and he was originally interred in Hawaii," said Chunglo. "Over the course of the years and with the advent of DNA identification, his remains were finally positively identified, so he will be returning home for closure for the family and final interment in Everett on Friday."
Bob Sparks, a historian, said his quest began 11 years ago as he attempted to bring his uncle home for a proper burial.
"I got books on the Korean war, I got regimental histories of Ron's unit to try and find where he was," said Bob Sparks.
It was an emotional day when Bob Sparks learned that his mission was completed.
"It was such overwhelming joy that I just couldn't speak," he said. "I knew that 65 years after falling in the service of his country, 11 years after my dad asked me to find him, we found him."
A wake will be held for Cpl. Sparks at DeVito Funeral Home in Arlington Thursday, and he will be buried Friday at Everett's Woodlawn Cemetery.
