Army Cpl. Frank H. Smith came home to Liverpool on Tuesday, 59 years after he was killed fighting communist forces on a hill in Korea. Smith’s remains, which were found by the South Korean military last year and recently identified, returned under military escort aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta Tuesday afternoon. Following a brief ceremony with members of...
View full sizeA military honor guard from Fort Drum places a casket containing the remains of Cpl. Frank H. Smith, of Liverpool, into a hearse Tuesday at Hancock Airport.Army Cpl. Frank H. Smith came home to Liverpool on Tuesday, 59 years after he was killed fighting communist forces on a hill in Korea.
Smith’s remains, which were found by the South Korean military last year and recently identified, returned under military escort aboard a Delta flight from Atlanta Tuesday afternoon.
Following a brief ceremony with members of his family, including his two surviving sisters, Marion Chester, of Salina, and Arlene Simms, of Liverpool, the remains were taken to Mauer Funeral Home in Liverpool under escort by police and an honor guard from Fort Drum in Watertown.
About 30 flag-waving members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcyclists who attend the funerals of fallen American soldiers, stood holding American flags as Smith’s remains passed through an airport gate.
Burial will be in North Syracuse Cemetery on Thursday.
View full sizeMembers of the Patriot Guard Riders stand in honor of Army Cpl. Frank H. Smith, of Liverpool, as a hearse carries his remains past a gate at Hancock Airport Tuesday. Smith was killed on a hill in the Korean War in 1951, and his remains were found last year by the South Korean military and recently identified.