Remains of soldier from Detroit killed in Korean War, to be sent home

After learning that her youngest son was missing in action on the front lines of the Korean War, Sally Miller slept with a picture of him above her head, taped to the bedpost.

Now, more seven decades later, the family of Army Pfc. James L. Miller, of Detroit, will finally be able to lay his remains to rest.

On Thursday, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Miller's remains, which the family had been told were unrecoverable, had finally been identified. As part of their Korean War Disinterment Project, the DPAA unearthed 652 Korean War Unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Using chest radiograph comparison as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis, they were able to identify one set of remains, Unknown x-5156, as that of Miller.

"I just feel so good right now," Miller's niece, Gail Yancie, 66, of Eastpointe, said after learning her lost uncle would finally be coming home.

Miller, the youngest son among four siblings, grew up in Detroit. When he was just 17, he decided to follow his older brother's footsteps and enlist in the Army, and was deployed to fight in Korea. Just three years later, Miller was killed on July 30, 1950, in the Battle of Sangju, during the Korean War.

Miller's family received notice that he had been killed in action, but were unable to hold a funeral as his remains were declared unrecoverable.

More: Remains of missing Korean War soldier, a Detroit native, to be buried in Holly

A painful lack of closure

Yancie said the picture taped to her grandmother's bedpost intrigued her and she wanted to know more about the uncle she never got to know.

"I was told, you know, 'Oh, that's your Uncle Jimmy, he died in the war. But don't ask any questions (about him),' " said Yancie.

Despite the incredible pain of loss without closure, Sally Miller never stopped trying to bring her son home. In one of many letters to the U.S. Army, she wrote:

"We the father and mother of James L. Miller ... who was killed in action in Korea on July 30, 1950 are writing in regards to his remains being shipped home. We notified the Red Cross that we wanted the body sent home for burial. Please answer and let us know when to expect the shipment."

Unfortunately, her efforts were unsuccessful. Sally Miller died in 1976.

Miller will be laid to rest Friday at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, and a rosette is to be placed next to his name on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific to signify that he was found.

Yancie said she's incredibly grateful to be able to fulfill her grandmother's wish:

"I can finally say, 'Grandma, he's coming home.' "

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit soldier killed in Korean War to have remains returned