Family Grateful Remains Of Missing Korean War Vet Returned Home

CUMBERLAND — Pfc. James R. Hare, U.S. Army, Battery B, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was lost Feb. 13, 1951, near the Korean town of Hoengsong. On Feb. 13, 2013, exactly 62 years after he was classified as missing in action, the memory and service of a beloved son and brother will be honored, and he will be laid to rest near his parents with full military honors.

Hare was born in Cumberland in 1932, the first of 15 children to James and Opal Hare. He was just 19 years old when he joined the U.S. Army. After completing training at Camp Lejeune, he joined thousands of soldiers fighting in the Korean conflict in 1949.

While sporadic, his parents received letters from James, but soon the letters stopped and the fate of the eldest child was unclear.

After nearly two years of waiting, the Hares received a letter that indicated James had been captured by the North Koreans and had died.
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