Right after high school, Paul Gordon joined the military, following in the footsteps of his proud older brother.
He was eventually sent to fight in the Korean War. That's where he went missing in 1951 after he was taken to a POW camp. Gordon later died at the age of 20.
Sadly, his family was never able to give him a proper burial.
“I never gave up,” his sister, Dorothy Gayhart, told WCPO. “Keep that [in the] back of your mind that someday it’s all going to work out the way it’s supposed to.”
Gayhart's optimistic outlook proved to be true: Sixty-three years later, DNA testing helped identify Sgt. Gordon’s remains, which North Korea turned over in the early 1990s.
His body was finally brought home to Kentucky, similarly to Army Sgt. Christopher Vars who served in both World War II and the Korean War.
Although his older brother passed away, Gordon’s living family members were emotional by the unexpected news.
“I thought somebody was playing a joke on me,” Gayhart said of hearing the news. “I might not be able to talk to him, but I know he’s home.”
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