Remains of Korean War POW return to East St. Louis

By Ryan Dean

KSDK -- Nearly 60 years after he left home, Private First Class Green Finley Jr. is finally home in East St. Louis.

Maybe it is a sign of just how much time has passed since his death. There is only one surviving family member who remembers him and the family has no pictures of him.

"It's the first time we are together. I know we're meeting here through life and death, but still we are together right now and that means a lot," said Romont Ross, Finley's great nephew. "I never knew him but I feel like I know him now."

PFC Finely was born in East St. Louis in 1932. He joined the Army in 1950. Military documents show he was captured and became a POW during the Korean War. In March 1951 he died of pneumonia in a North Korean prison camp.

In the early 1990s, the United States received more than 200 boxes from North Korea that contained the remains of hundreds of U.S. soldiers.

In October, PFC Green's sister was notified that dental records and DNA samples confirmed that some of the remains in the boxes belonged to PFC Green.

"We always talk about him from time to time at family get-togethers. We really had no conclusion, now we have conclusion," Ross said.