Korean War Casualty Finally Laid to Rest

When I read claims of how US Korean War veterans are a bunch of war criminals and that the US government should pay compensation, my response is often here is your compensation:

It took 56 years, but Jenkins’ great-uncle, Army Pfc. Francis Crater Jr., now is home for good.

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced this week that it positively had identified Crater, who died after an overwhelming Chinese assault in North Korea on Nov. 28, 1950.

Jenkins and his family laid Crater to rest in front of 150 people in Akron, Ohio, on Oct. 21.

“The funeral we did was one of the most profound experiences of my life,” Jenkins said during a phone interview with Stars and Stripes.

Jenkins delivered the eulogy in front of his grandfather, Glenn Crater, 79, and other family members.

Crater’s 32nd Infantry Regiment was assigned temporarily to the Army’s 31st Regimental Combat Team on Nov. 27, 1950, when a massive and unexpected wave of Chinese soldiers attacked the heavily outnumbered United Nations forces.

Jenkins spoke to the lone U.S. survivor of that attack in Crater’s unit.

“He said [Crater] was fighting them off, hopping from one machine gun nest to the other,” Jenkins said. “He saw my uncle fighting hand-to-hand in the nest, trying to save his comrades. When he last saw him, they were overrun in the nest.”

Crater had multiple bullet wounds and likely died from a Chinese bullet to the head, Jenkins said.

I still find it amazing that people are demanding financial compensation for a war fought 50 years ago that the United States is still digging up bodies from of our fellow Americans.  Isn’t 36,516 dead, 103,284 wounded, 8,176 unaccounted for, and 7,245 POWs plus 50+ years of economic development and defense assistance enough American compensation to South Korea?