SGT. Cameron
M. Flack In Memory
of
SGT. Cameron
M. Flack
Cameron Flack was part of the ASI Class of 1952
UNION MILLS, N.C. November 3, 2014 -- A fallen soldier
missing since the Korean War is at rest now and home. Army Sergeant Cameron
Flack's remains were buried today in Rutherford County after he'd been missing
since 1950.
"You always wonder, is it ever going to happen?" said his
niece Sherry Brooks-Parker.
Flack was just 18 years old when he went missing during the
Korean War. Sunday, family and friends laid his remains to rest in Union Mills.
"It'd be nice if they were brought home under different
circumstances, but at the same time, it gives the family closure and still
allows us to show our honor and respect," said Patriot Guard member Keith
Arbuckle.
That closure may have never happened if it weren't for DNA
testing. A sample from Flack's sister was a match with his remains. The next
step was simple: bring him home, where he belongs.
"He's right beside grandma and grandpa where they wanted
him from the word go," Brooks-Parker said.
There are hundreds and thousands of other missing soldiers,
but on this day, Cameron Flack's family knows exactly where to find him.
"Keep hoping, keep praying, because hopefully your day will
come as well," Brooks-Parker said.
Flack had been in Korea just three months when he died
fighting the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in December of 1950.
FOREST CITY —
The remains of a Union Mills solider, missing in action
(MIA) in the Korean War have been positively identified, 64 years after he went
missing and was presumed dead.
The family of Cameron Morrison Flack, who joined the Army
at age 17, received confirmation Monday from the Department of Defense that his
remains will be returned to Rutherford County sometime in September.
Flack was the son of the late I.K. and Texie Flack of Union
Mills and grew up in a large family. He went to school at Union Mills High
School before joining the Army in 1949.
More than five years have passed since Billy Seay and Jack
Nanney, a cousin to Flack, began the diligent work in finding family members who
submitted DNA hoping to have remains of MIAs identified.
Flack was one of four Rutherford County MIAs from the
Korean War, missing since 1950. Others are William Harold Pate, Thomas Wray
Yelton and Frank Robert Barrett. DNA has been submitted by family members of
Pate and Yelton, but to date their remains have not been identified. Barrett's
family members have not been reached. (See related story).
Flack's niece, Sherry Brooks Parker of Marion, was the
first to receive notification from the Deptartment of Defense approximately 30
days ago with information it was likely Flack's remains had been identified.
Last Monday, July 28 her telephone rang at her Marion home,
once again from the Department of Defense office. She learned her uncle's
remains were identified and should be back in Rutherford County for a burial at
Round Hill Baptist Church in Union Mills. She said officials also told her they
would be contacting her in mid-August to discuss Flack's service to his country.
"I felt wonderful for my mom," said Parker. Her mother,
Shirley Brooks Mace, Flack's sister, of Marion has stages of dementia. "It has
bothered her for years and years that he was never brought home."
When Parker told her mother, Parker said it seemed Mace
understood and was relieved.
Barbara Chatham of Rutherfordton, another sister, was
youngest of the 11 children born to I.K. Flack and Texie.
"I didn't know him that well because I was much younger,"
she said.
Chatham was only nine years old when her brother Cameron
joined the Army.
"I'm glad it turned out like this," Chatham said.
Also battling some health issues having suffered a stroke
several months ago, Chatham said she plans to be at the service honoring her
brother.
Flack's other surviving sibling, Mildred Kincaid of
Morganton, suffered a debilitating stroke years ago and lives in a nursing home.
After hearing the news of his second cousin's remains being
identified Jack Nanney was elated.
"I never thought I'd live to see this," Flack said looking
out across the Round Hill Baptist Church cemetery Thursday.
A monument is erected at an empty grave plot at the
cemetery with these words, "In honor of Sgt. Cameron M. Flack who gave his life
for service to his country in Korea. His body rests in Korea." The monument has
his birth date, Jan. 3, 1932 and his death date of Dec. 12, 1950.
His remains will be laid to rest in the plot that's been
empty for half-a-century.
Nanney talked about how he and Cameron were friends and
went to school together at Union Mills elementary school and later to Union
Mills High School.
"When he turned 17 he quit school and went to the service,"
Nanney said. "I remember the last time I saw him. Back then Saturday was the day
when country folks went to town. So me and others went to downtown Rutherfordton
riding in the back of a pickup truck and saw Cameron walking on the street. He
asked for a ride. I remember all us coming back home in that truck and l
laughing and having a good time."
According to the Flack family heritage, Cameron Flack went
to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training with the 50th Infantry
Division Third Battalion Com. N.
After basic training he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia.
and was then sent into combat in September 1950 as a member of Company L. 3rd
Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
Less than than three months after arriving in Korea, Flack
was missing in action.
He was listed as MIA while fighting the enemy on or about,
Dec. 2, 1950, the Korean War site says.
The Department of Defense records Flack was presumed dead
on Dec. 31, 1953, the day all MIAs from the Korea were were presumed dead.
DOD records say Dec. 12, 1950, as Flack's date of loss,
"but due to the internal chaos within the unit due to high losses, it is
impossible without eyewitness confirmation to have a specific date of actual
loss. By Dec. 12, 1950, the unit was in reserve in the Hamhung-Humgnam area,"
the War site records.
Army veterans Harold Davis of Wilmington volunteers with
the American Legion, Department of North Carolina to locate family members of
MIA soldiers and Prisoners of War.
"I remember working on this case," he said of Flack.
"Cameron Flack died during the first part of the Korean War. It was a terrible
time. “He was lost in one of the biggest battles the United States Army has ever
had. He was caught up in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir," Davis said. "They
were in 35 degrees below zero temperatures and were completely surrounded by the
Chinese and outnumbered. Two days of battle and they just about wiped out his
regiment."
"They lost so many men there they couldn't function. Every
man was on his own just trying to get away. It was just terrible, really," Davis
said.
