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Found after 72 years

– We all heard about him, we knew about his history and that he was a war hero. We always hoped he would be found, Poupolo’s great-grandson Richard Graham tells the news agency. AP.

Poupolo’s sister is still alive. The family had not imagined that the 99-year-old woman – who last saw her brother when she was 20 – would witness the discovery of her brother’s remains.

– For her it was like he died again, Graham tells the news agency.

The Korean War began in 1950 between Communist forces in the north and Western-backed forces in the south of the Korean peninsula.

The Soviet Union and China supported Kim Il Sung’s Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the North Korean army. The United States and several other Western countries supported the Republic of Korea and the South Korean military, according to Great Norwegian encyclopedia.

To date, there is only a formally ceasefire agreement between the parties, better known as North Korea and South Korea.

Poupolo served as a gunner in the United States Eighth Army participating in battles during the war. He was reported missing as early as 1950, AP writes.

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In 1953, however, four released prisoners of war announced that the 19-year-old had died in a prison camp in February 1951. Puopolo’s remains were never found.

Another 69 years would pass before a definitive confirmation of the fate of the gunner could be established.

In 2019, previously unknown remnants of the Korean War were discovered. With the help of modern DNA analyzes, as well as dental analyzes, the remains of Poupolo were found. This is what the US military tells AP.

The family now plans to arrange a funeral for Poupolos within a month or two in his hometown of Massachusetts, the news agency writes.

– We haven’t forgotten, says the great-grandson.

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