For nearly 70 years, the life and death of Army Pfc. William Junior Winchester was a mystery to his family and the rest of the country. The soldier went missing and was killed during the Korean War at just 20 years old. An exhaustive, decade-long search resulted in the discovery of Winchester’s remains in 2019, and he was given a proper burial by his surviving family earlier this week.
Winchester was captured by enemy forces in November 1950, and was assumed dead in a prisoner of war camp in February 1951. Three years later, North Korea turned over remains from POW camps, United Nations cemeteries, and isolated burial sites to the United States, but none could be identified as Winchester.
Because of this, he was declared non-recoverable, and his remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu as an “unknown.”
64 years later, in June 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began to investigate all of the unknown remains in Hawaii. On September 10, 2019, Winchester had finally been accounted for, “using circumstantial and material evidence and dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis,” according to the U.S. Army.
The Patriot Guard rode into Memorial Park Cemetery in Lima hoisting American flags from their bikes, followed by military personnel and the hearse carrying Winchester’s remains.
It was a major gathering; dozens filled the room with Winchester’s family as his life and service were eulogized and honored.
Major Patrick Hernandez is the officer that was in charge of transporting Winchester’s remains to Lima and maintaining communication with the family. He presented various military awards and honors for Winchester’s service, including a purple heart.
One of those honors was a commendation from his home state of Alabama.
“Whereas Pfc. Winchester was awarded the combat infantryman’s badge, prisoner of war medal, the Korean service medal, the United Nations service medal, the national defense service medal, and the Republic of Korean War service medal,” the commendation stated.
“Now, therefore, I, Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, to hereby commend William J. Winchester for his service to the United States.”
Winchester was born and raised in Mount Hope, Alabama, where his parents remained until their passing and some surviving family members still call home.
But before Winchester went missing in action, his wife had relocated to Ohio, and over the years much of the family has planted its roots in the Buckeye State.
The eulogy was presented by Winchester’s grandson, Rev. James L. Winchester, who explained the decision to bury the remains in Lima.
“My first thought was that I wish we could’ve had this in Alabama and Lima, but we had to make a choice,” he said. “His legacy is here, but I know his heart will be with his mother and father also. But we are hare, this is us, this is who we are.”
The service lasted an hour, and included a proclamation from Lima Mayor David Berger, stories from family members about what they knew and learned about Winchester over the years, and a heartfelt song from Josiah Matthews.
As the ceremony concluded, Rev. Winchester spoke about the measure of a life. He says generations of prayers had been answered, and even though many of the people who made those prayers are no longer with us, those prayers led to closure over time.
“We never had a chance to sit on his lap. We didn’t know what pet name he would tell us to call him: granddad, poppa, daddoo, pops… or just call me Junior. We never got a chance to hear him call our names. We never got a chance for him to embrace us,” he said.
“But here we are now, we can tell our children who he was and that he’s come home.”
Winchester’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery with the others who are still missing from the Korean War.
A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. To date, more than 7,600 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.
