Wisconsin families of Korean War MIAs regain hope that remains of loved ones might come home

RIVER FALLS - Jean Kittelson and Duane Thompson picked a date to marry at a church in Glenwood City.

She wanted to be a June bride and the timing was good because she was graduating from high school in May and Thompson was supposed to finish his Army stint a few months earlier.

By the time of their wedding date 67 years ago, Kittelson was, in effect, a war widow. The man with whom she planned to marry, start a family and grow old together had been reported missing in Korea.

She never got to say goodbye to Thompson or attend his funeral; there's no gravestone for Kittelson to leave flowers or visit on Memorial Day. Thompson is among the more than 100 Wisconsin men missing in action or killed and their bodies never recovered in Korea.

"I often wondered what happened to him," Kittelson, 85, said as she sat at her kitchen table and pulled out the only photo she has of Thompson. "Wouldn't it be nice if they could bring him back?"

Last week, 55 flag-draped coffins containing the remains of what are believed to be American troops killed in the Korean War were returned from Korea aboard two C-17 aircraft. In a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Vice President Mike Pence, whose father was a Korean War combat veteran, called the return of the remains “tangible progress” in efforts to achieve peace in Korea.

"But today is just a beginning." the vice president said Aug. 1. "And our work will not be complete until all our fallen heroes are accounted for. We will see to it that these are the heroes who will lead the way to many homecomings in the future."

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency lists 165 men from Wisconsin unaccounted for in the Korean War. According to the agency, more than 7,800 Americans have not been accounted for from the 1950-'53 war, with about 5,300 of them in North Korea.

It’s part of the American military ethos to never leave anyone behind. But in reality, it often happens in war. Soldiers sent on patrol never come back. Planes disappear from radar. Ships sink beneath waves.

There are so many MIAs in Korea because American troops were surprised early in the war when the Chinese entered the fight, said Gordon Faust, an 85-year-old Korean War veteran from Waunakee and author of "Wisconsin and Korea's Forgotten Victory:1950-1953 and After."

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"When you read about the atrocities of what happened early on — the first Army unit there was basically overrun and there were a lot of POWs. Not all of them were marched north," said Faust. "The records on the Korean War were incomplete and often wrong because they weren't well maintained."

Memories of the missing in action never leave the minds of those who loved them. Even though it has been almost seven decades, families and friends of the Wisconsin MIAs are hopeful their loved ones will some day return home. That hope was underscored with the recent meeting of President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who pledged their commitment to recovering American troops.

Then he was gone

Kittelson met Thompson through a friend. They went to a movie on their first date; the next night they went dancing. Before he had to return to Fort Lewis, Washington, Thompson asked Kittelson if they could write to each other.

Thompson returned to take Kittelson to her junior prom at Glenwood City High School in the spring of 1950. While sitting in his car, he gave her an engagement ring and asked if she would marry him. Kittelson said yes. That summer he called her 24 hours before shipping out to Korea and apologized for not having time to see her.

Then he was gone.

Thompson was a sergeant in the 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. By mid-November 1950 American troops had pushed into an area of North Korea just 60 miles from the border of China.Then approximately 300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked and Thompson’s unit was ordered to withdraw, suffering many casualties during fierce fighting.

Thompson was reported missing on Nov. 30, 1950. No one saw him wounded or killed and there is no evidence he was taken prisoner.

A few days later, Kittelson, who was listed as next of kin for Thompson, heard her name called while she was at a movie theater. Two servicemen told the high school senior that Thompson was missing in action. A year later he was declared dead.

Kittelson married in 1953 and raised four children. Her husband of 56 years died several years ago. Kittelson later tracked down Thompson’s half sister in Chicago, who gave a DNA sample to authorities.

"I’m hoping he can come back to Wisconsin and be buried here some day,” said Kittelson.

John Fruit is hoping the same thing for his uncle, Ralph V. Jackson who was serving in an Army military police unit sent out on a search and rescue mission on the same day Thompson disappeared. Jackson was driving a jeep when mortars landed nearby, sending the jeep and Jackson into a ravine. The jeep was found but the 20-year-old Richland Center man was not.

Fruit’s mother, Louise, was close to her brother and his loss hit her hard. Fruit read a letter his uncle sent to his mother in September 1950 where Jackson wrote about his hope he would be home for Christmas.

“Whatever has gone on in these meetings (between the U.S. and North Korea), it’s a start to get some of these remains back,” said Fruit, who lives in Richland Center. “I would hope they belong to my uncle and I hope they’re remains of American service members so they can come back to their families.”

Fruit and one of his uncles gave DNA samples to authorities several years ago.

Gail Beyer donated a sample of her DNA in case her uncle David Wustrack’s remains are recovered. Wustrack, a sergeant first class in the 13th Engineer Combat Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, was taken prisoner while fighting in South Korea on Feb. 13, 1951. The Fond du Lac man was presumed dead in 1954; his remains were never recovered.

Beyer’s mother died in 1991 never knowing what happened to her brother. There were six children in the Wustrack family, four boys and two girls. One sister and one brother are still alive.

“Knowing what my three other uncles were like I suspect he was a good man. I suspect he was a fine individual,” said Beyer.

Soldiers withdrawn

Evan Nelson, too, has given a DNA sample in hopes of one day identifying his brother Tommy’s remains. Tommy Nelson was serving in the 17th Infantry Regiment, which was rushed forward to Pork Chop Hill in July 1953 just days before fighting was halted through an armistice agreement.

A large Chinese unit overran outposts on Pork Chop Hill to gain as much territory as possible before the war ended. Tommy Nelson, a 21-year-old private first class who grew up on Madeline Island, was killed on July 9 when his unit counter-attacked. U.S. commanders withdrew all soldiers two days later, which prevented recovery of casualties.

Married a few months before he was sent to Korea, Evan Nelson lost his leg in a bomb explosion and was treated at a MASH unit, said his daughter Julie Nelson. Because of that experience her father didn’t like watching the popular 1970s "M*A*S*H" television show. Shortly after Evan Nelson, who is now 88, returned home from Korea the family learned of Tommy Nelson’s death.

“We’ve seen several ceremonies of people coming back, coming through town with a motorcycle escort,” said Julie Nelson, who lives with her father in South Range near Superior. “There would be such closure. It would mean a lot to all of us.”

One Wisconsin family recently received good news. Remains of Sgt. Rufus L. Ketchum were identified in April and will be buried in Superior next week.

Ketchum was a 38-year-old World War II veteran who re-enlisted in 1949 and was sent to Korea the next year as a medic in the 57th Field Artillery, 7th Infantry Division.

During the brutal Chosin Reservoir campaign, when U.S. troops faced subzero temperatures during attacks by Chinese troops in late November 1950, Ketchum took charge of an aid station and ministered to wounded service members under hostile fire. When his unit was ordered to withdraw, Ketchum directed the transfer of wounded men in a motorized convoy in a blinding snowstorm on icy roads, according to the citation for his posthumous Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest medal for valor.

When the convoy was halted by an enemy road block, Ketchum was wounded in the chest and left arm but continued treating his injured comrades. When last seen, Ketchum’s arm was in a sling and he was administering morphine to a wounded man. 

Ketchum will be buried Tuesday with full military honors.

To purchase a copy of Faust's book "Wisconsin and Korea's Forgotten Victory" contact the author at agfaust58@charter.net