Wisconsin veteran buried, 47 years after going missing in action

By Brendan O'Brien (Reuters) - A Vietnam War veteran from Wisconsin was laid to rest on Tuesday in a Veterans Day ceremony, 47 years after he was severely wounded in a battle near the Cambodian border and died of his wounds shortly after being captured. James VanBendegom was buried with full military honors in a cemetery in the city of Kenosha, where dozens of his family members, local veterans and combat-unit comrades gathered to commemorate and pay tribute to his life and service, his family said. "There was not a better way to celebrate Veterans Day," said his brother Bob VanBendegom, a 64-year-old biologist in Kenosha. "We must remember past and current veterans and we can't lose sight of their service." VanBendegom, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, was severely wounded while on patrol in South Vietnam near the Cambodian border and captured on July 12, 1967, according to the U.S. Defense Department. He was classified as missing in action and his family was told in 1969 that he may still have been alive. Four years later, returning American prisoners of war reported he had died of his battle wounds shortly after being captured and his remains could not be recovered at the time. A Vietnamese person discovered the remains and handed them over to the U.S. government while in a refugee camp in Thailand in 1986, according to a Defense Department statement, but it was not until last month that the department's scientists were able to make a positive identification through DNA testing. "We have some closure now," Bob VanBendegom said. "This has opened some old wounds that took years to heal in the past, but they will slowly heal again." On Sunday, when family members returned with the remains, their police-escorted procession into Kenosha was greeted by veterans and community members, who lined the streets and gathered at the funeral home, Bob VanBendegom said. VanBendegom was buried on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to commemorate the ending of World War One, his brother said. There are still more than 1,600 American service members not accounted for from the Vietnam War, according to the Defense Department. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Jonathan Allen and Eric Beech)