On Thursday morning around 9:30, a Dunkirk hero who died while fighting in the Korean War will finally come home again. Sgt. Gerald B. Raeymacker, whose remains were identified in August, is expected to be on a flight from Hawaii to the Buffalo airport to come back to Chautauqua County.

Raeymacker, who went through the Dunkirk schools and lived in the city until his enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1948, was known by many here growing up as having the last name of Briggs.

His father, Felix Raeymacker, died in a roofing accident when Gerald was a young boy in Erie, Pa. His mother, Margaret Deutsch Raeymacker Briggs remarried to Arthur Briggs and moved to Dunkirk in the 1930s. That marriage led to all of the family, including Gerald and his older brother, William, taking the last name of Briggs.

“There was no adoption and no name change,” said Dunkirk resident Darlene Cooley, Raeymacker’s niece.

Raeymacker was a member of Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the laboratory for identification.

Raeymacker’s death — and unknown whereabouts — haunted his mother for the rest of her life though she kept the faith he would someday be found.

On Oct. 19, Raeymacker will be buried in Willowbrook Park Cemetery next to his mom. “That was her wish,” said Steve Cooley, Darlene’s husband. “That’s what she said before she died.”

A Mass of Christian burial for Raeymacker will be on that same day at 10 a.m. in Holy Trinity Church on Central Avenue. Services with full military honors will then move to the cemetery at 11 followed by a reception at the American Legion Post 62.

“We’re looking at it more as a celebration and an honor to bring him back home,” Darlene Cooley said.

Before the services, the church will open at 8:30 a.m. to allow any military or those who have served our country to offer their respect.

SFC William Shephard, a casualty assistance officer, has been working with the Briggs’ family since Sept. 12 in making the arrangements for Raeymacker’s return, noting this is one of the most significant cases he has been assigned. He said there will be a ceremony once Raeymacker lands at the airport and the Patriot Guard will be escorting him back to Dunkirk via the New York State Thruway after the plane arrives from Buffalo.

“Seventy years later, we finally get closure,” Darlene Cooley said.

Here is the complete obituary:

Sgt. Gerald B. Raeymacker