Remains of Korean War vet travel back home to Dublin
LAURENS COUNTY, Ga. -- The remains of a Korean War soldier returned to his home in Dublin Thursday.
Cpl. James Rix left for the Korean War when he was just 18-years-old. However, he never returned home, as officials say he was killed in action on November 30, 1950 during combat with Chinese Communist Forces near Pyongyang, North Korea.
Rix's body remained in North Korea at the United Nations Military Cemetery in Pyongyang. After that, the remains were transported to Honolulu, Hawaii without identification.
Then, this year on Feb. 8, Rix was accounted for after a scientist used dental and mitochondrial DNA analysis. He even had a tombstone made for him at Union Springs Baptist Church in Laurens County next to where his mother is buried.
Thursday, his family gathered in Dublin to finally get closure as his remains came back to where he grew up.
Rix received a Hero's arrival police escort beginning at 10 a.m. at the Savannah Airport. He then traveled down Pooler Parkway to I-16 until he reached Townsend Funeral Home in Dublin.
Rix's extended family still lives in the Dublin area. His cousins' grandchildren -- who go to school in Macon -- were present Thursday to pay their respects.
The second day of this mission will be a hero escort from Dublin to his final resting place at Union Springs Baptist Church in Alamo, Ga on Saturday.
