Remains of Korean War soldier buried in Mount Vernon
MOUNT VERNON, Ill. (KFVS) - The remains of Army Sgt. Howard G. Malcolm, a soldier killed during the Korean War, were buried in his hometown on Tuesday, July 11.
A native of Mount Vernon, Illinois, Malcolm was a member of Headquarters Company, Ninth Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Malcolm was reported missing in action on December 1, 1950, when he was 23.
Several Prisoners of War who returned in 1953 reported that Malcolm had been a POW who died in August 1951 at POW Camp No. 5.
North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered from Camp No. 5, also known as Pyoktong, to the United Nations Command in 1954 during Operation Glory. However, Malcolm’s name did not appear on any transfer rosters, and was determined non-recoverable in October 1955.
In July 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency planned to disinter 652 Korean War unknowns from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. Malcolm was accounted for by the DPAA on October 25, 2022, after his remains were identified using chest radiograph comparison as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
The general manager of Sutherland-Rankin Funeral Home, Myron Lloyd, escorted this soldier home.
It started in Salem, Ill.
The public was encouraged to safely line up on Route 37 from Salem to Mount Vernon to honor Malcolm.
The procession left the funeral home in Salem around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday and ended at the Beth Memorial Cemetery in Mount Vernon.
Graveside services preceded the interment.
“I cannot imagine,” Lloyd said. “It’s hard enough to have your loved one brought home at death, much less having no idea for 70 plus years where he is--where is my son?”
Funeral director, Amanda Sutherland-Ponyi, agreed with Lloyd’s sentiments.
“We don’t know what all he went through, but his family not knowing where he was and they were able to let him rest here at home--I have so much comfort, knowing that he is home,” Sutherland-Ponyi said.
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