Closure At Last

By: Charlotte Busch Mitnik

 

 

 

   On Friday June 22, 2001, Air Force Captain James Swayne Wilson, Jr.’s remains were at last laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with all the honors he deserved.

 

     Captain Wilson was a navigator on a B-29 that was shot down on April 12,1951 in North Korea. His remains were turned over to our government, along with other sets of remains, between 1990 and 1994 by the North Korean government. Capt. Wilson was the father of Patricia Wilson Dunton. Pat is the past president of the Korea/Cold War Family Association of the Missing. She has been searching for closure most of her adult life.

 

     Many of Pat’s days were spent searching for information in the archives in Washington D. C., as well as making phone calls and writing letters to government officials, and paying personal visits to congressmen and senators. Pat’s family sent in a blood sample for DNA testing, which helped with Captain Wilson’s identification.

 

     While looking for an accounting of her father, Pat became a founder of her organization and helped point other family members in the direction they needed to go for their own closure.

 

     We may not all find closure, but Pat’s story proves that you must question, you must search, you must use whatever means that are necessary, and do not take “no” for an answer when the government tells you it can’t be done. And last, but not least, remember it is you who wants the closure and the accounting. If you don’t seek it out it won’t come to you, unless you are very lucky.