Ohio family receives Korean War vet’s remains 65 years later

NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) — The remains of a Korean War veteran who was captured in 1950 have been returned to his Ohio family, and he’ll be buried Friday next to his parents.

Army Cpl. Charles “Perky” White Jr. had been considered missing in action for 66 years.

June Chuvalas, White’s only surviving sibling and who still lives in the family’s hometown of New Lexington, said her older brother died in 1951. His unidentified remains were then taken to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

Officials in Fort Knox, Ky., notified his family about five weeks ago that DNA samples taken from White’s relatives matched the remains.

“For all these years he laid in a national cemetery underneath a granite stone marked unknown, only having a number assigned to his casket,” Rick Chuvalas, June’s son, told the Times Recorder in Zanesville.

His casket, draped in an American flag, was flown to Columbus on Tuesday. Members of the Army Honor Guard carried White’s remains to the hearse that would take him home.