Remains of Union soldier lost in Korean War return home, family reunites

A soldier from Union County who was lost during the Korean War was finally returned home Saturday — much to the shock of his family, who never expected to have his remains to bury.

Army Pfc. Aubrey Dean Vaughn was 20 years old when he was captured by North Koreans in 1951.

On April 23, 1951, his company’s position was overrun by Chinese Communist forces and he was reported missing in action.

More than six decades later, his remains were recovered and returned to Union, where he will be buried on Tuesday.

In 1954, the remains of prisoners of war who died in POW camps were returned to the United States in what came to be called Operation Glory, U.S. Air Force Reserves Lt. Col. Holly Slaughter, a spokeswoman with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said in a phone interview. The remains that couldn’t be identified were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii — often informally known as the Punchbowl, Slaughter said.

Vaughn’s remains were exhumed from the Punchbowl in May 2015 so further analysis could be conducted, she said.

The North Koreans treated POW remains with a chemical that made DNA testing impossible, Slaughter said, so the U.S. Department of Defense had to examine the remains in other ways.

“In the identification of Vaughn’s remains, scientists ... used anthropological analysis, circumstantial evidence, as well as dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched Vaughn’s records,” Slaughter said.

Vaughn’s daughter, Myra Heatherly, said that hearing the news that her father’s remains were recovered was a fantastic feeling.

“It’s been shock and happiness,” Heatherly said. “We’ve been searching for him for so long. I was under the impression his remains would never be recovered because he was buried in the POW camps.”

Heatherly was just 11 months old when Vaughn left to fight in the Korean War.

Her parents never married, which is something people didn’t speak about at that time, Heatherly said. As a result, she didn’t grow up with close relationships with her father’s family.

Heatherly said she knew about her aunts and extended family, but she didn’t make contact with them until she was older. Through this experience, Heatherly said she’s discovered a bigger family and she’s glad they’ve been able to connect.

“It’s a celebration and a reunion,” Heatherly said. “It’s been a really nice reunion, and we’ve gotten closer through all of this.”

Dottie Grant, Vaughn’s youngest sister, said she was only 5 years old when her brother left for the war. She doesn’t remember much about him because she was so young when he left.

Grant said she remembers when the Army contacted her parents to tell them her brother was missing.

“I’m so glad to have him home,” Grant said. “Just knowing he’s here makes a difference.”

Through the experience, Grant said she’s enjoyed getting to know Heatherly and her children. Now that they’ve built a relationship, Grant said she’s hoping to see her more often.

Maxine Duckett, Vaughn’s older sister, said having her brother home has been dreamlike. The family had come to terms with Vaughn’s death in the 1950s, Duckett said, and they never knew his body was moved from North Korea to Hawaii.

Duckett said her family didn’t find out Vaughn’s body was in Hawaii until the identification process began.

“We never expected to have his remains, because we had come to terms with his death in a POW camp and knew he was buried there,” Duckett said. “We had a memorial marker at the cemetery where our parents are, and now he’ll be there with them.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Remains of Union soldier lost in Korean War return home, family reunites."