LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Family members welcomed home the remains of Private First Class Charles W. Wells Thursday, 79 years after the soldier was killed in action.
Wells was brought home to Kentucky on a plane that arrived to Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Thursday evening.
79 years in the making: The remains of Private First Class Charles W. Wells return to Kentucky.
— Katrina Nickell WDRB (@knickelltv) November 10, 2023
He was killed in battle during WWII. He was hurried in Burma, unidentified. His remains since have been moved to India, then Honolulu before coming home. pic.twitter.com/jfxmma3h4o
Wells enlisted in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Burma during World War II.
A column of "Merrill's Marauders" march along a trail in North Burma where they are headed for action against the Japanese, March 23, 1944. PFC Charles W. Wells from Louisville, Ky., was a member of the unit before he was killed in action. (AP Photo)
He served as an infantry soldier as a member of the Merrill's Marauders. In 1944, the Marauders were sent to recover northern Burma to clear the way for the construction of the Ledo Road, according to military records.
On June 30, 1944, Wells was killed during a battle with the Japanese over an airfield and major crossroad near the Myitkyina area.
Because conditions were so bad, Wells was one of two soldiers buried in a common grave.
After WWII, the U.S. military went back into the area to locate missing soldiers.
Wells' body was discovered in the common grave, but they could not identify him. He was moved to a subsequent burial grave in India, before being moved to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1947. There, he was laid to rest in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as an 'unknown soldier.'
The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is displayed with a bouquet of white flowers, provided by U.S. Army Pacific, given by Maj. Gen. Tom Solhjem, U.S. Army chief of chaplains, and Regimental Sgt. Maj. Ralph Martinez, the Chaplain Corps senior enlisted advisor, May 11 at the Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii. Solhjem and Martinez visited the memorial to honor the memory of the nation’s military veterans and learn about previous chaplains that have sacrificed their lives during the wars. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Monik M. A. Phan, U.S. Army Pacific Public Affairs)
DNA samples were eventually matched to Wells' family, and he was identified on May 26, 2023.
"He's part of the greatest generation," said veteran James Journey.
Journey, along with members of the Patriot Guard Riders, welcomed Wells home Thursday.
A group lined a driveway at Louisville's airport, as a hearse drove Wells remains to Vine Grove.
"I know what it's like to serve, I know the, the heartbreak some of the family goes through, not knowing if they're going to come back or not," Journey said.
“Generations through the family probably passed down stories saying, 'wondered when he would come home, if he would come home, what happened to him,'” said Kelly Shehan, with the Patriot Guard Riders.
Wells is survived by a niece who lives in Louisville. She and other family members were present for his arrival Thursday evening.
Visitation services will be held from 9 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at Chism Family Funeral Home located at 769 Highland Avenue in Vine Grove, Ky.
Following the visitation, a graveside service with military honors will be held at the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff at 11 a.m.
For more information on the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and its work to identify fallen soldiers, click here.
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