HAMLET — More 70 years after Pvt. 1st Class Clem Donald McDuffie was killed in action in Korea, his remains returned to his hometown.
Family members met with U.S. Army officials at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport on Tuesday and escorted his casket back to Watson-King Funeral Home in Hamlet.
Joining the family in the convoy from the airport were Deputies Clyde Smith and Zach Allen with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and members of the Patriot Guard Riders.
Deputies from Mecklenburg, Union and Anson counties also participated in the escort through their respective areas and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office blocked intersections during the home stretch along U.S. 74 Business.
The Hamlet Fire Department hung a U.S. flag over the road near Whistle Stop Square and, joined by Sheriff Mark Gulledge, saluted as the convoy passed.
Once at the funeral home, McDuffie’s casket — draped with a U.S. flag — was removed from the hearse, with the Patriot Guard and Army personnel saluting as it was taken inside.
While the remains were being transferred to another plane at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the DFW Honor Team presented a medallion to Sgt. Heard, who accompanied the remains from Hawaii. Heard, in turn, gave it to the family.
Carole Venable was only 6 years old when her brother joined the Army. She was joined at the funeral home by remaining siblings Vann McDuffie and Juanita Owensby. The other two siblings were 13 and 3, respectively, at the time of enlistment.
“He (Vann) does have more memories of Donald than Juanita and I do,” Venable said. “But I do remember some things about him.”
McDuffie was serving in the U.S. Army’s Item Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division when his unit was attacked by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army near the Chosin Reservoir on Nov. 30, 1950 — 13 months and five days after he enlisted.
According to a press release from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of U.S. servicemembers killed during the war were turned over by North Korea in 1954 during Operation Glory.
However, at the time, none of the remains could be identified as McDuffie and he was officially declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956, and were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The remains were disinterred in 2021 and, through various analyses — including DNA and genome sequencing — McDuffie was identified and accounted for on Aug. 26 of this year.
Venable said she received the fateful phone call on Labor Day.
“I was totally astonished,” she recalled. “I always hoped for finding out something, but after a while you begin to wonder if you’re ever going to find out anything.
Venable immediately called her brother and sister and told them the news.
“Can you believe this, can you believe actually they identified Donald?” Venable said she asked her siblings. “It was wonderful.”
Venable described the convoy from Charlotte to Hamlet as “royal escorts.”
“We saw people saluting…as we came by,” she said, including JROTC cadets in Anson County.
This Thanksgiving marks “a happy closure” on seven decades of wondering, Venable said.
McDuffie will be laid to rest on Nov. 30 — the 74th anniversary of his death.
That day was also recently declared as Donald McDuffie Day in a proclamation from the City of Hamlet and flags will be lowered to half-staff.
Click here to read the press release about McDuffie’s identification.
Click here to read McDuffie’s obituary.
See more photos of the convoy below.
