After 75 years, remains of North Texas soldier missing in Korean War finally come home

A Denton County family is preparing to do something Thursday that they have waited 75 years to do: bury the remains of a loved one who went missing during the Korean War.

Sonny Tischler grew up outside Celina in the 1930s and '40s, helping his father on the family farm until he enlisted in the Army just before the start of the Korean War.

"He said I'm going to go ahead and volunteer, and then I can get it over with and then get my own farm," said Melva Doris Faulk, Tischler's sister.

But shortly after beginning his tour of duty as a bazooka and machine gun specialist, the 21-year-old went missing. Word soon reached his large, heartbroken family.

"Two army officers came to our house," she said. "It was very sad, you know, our only brother. Losing Sonny was hard, but not knowing what happened to him made the family's pain even worse. For years, I wondered, maybe did the communists get him? Was he tortured?

"And if my dad could've only known that, because every day I would see him pray and ask us to pray that we would hear something. My dad died in 1965, and he never knew what happened to his son."

Thanks to a Korean farmer who discovered human remains decades ago and DNA testing that took years to complete, Tischler's family now knows how he died. His remains were returned to North Texas this month.

"The phone rang, and I looked at my phone, and it said US Army," said Mary Ann Turner, Tischler's niece. "I was so happy, and I knew that the rest of the family would be happy.

Turner learned that her uncle likely died the day he disappeared.

"It was a blessing to find that he had evidently met his end from a sniper's bullet, so he didn't suffer," she said.

The military returned not only Tischler's remains but also his helmet, belt buckle, and combat boots.

Faulk, 89, is one of only three surviving siblings who will have the opportunity to say a proper goodbye to their only brother on Thursday. His funeral will be held in Pilot Point, more than 75 years after his death.

"It was just hard to believe and really overwhelming to know after 75 years how he could really be identified," she said. "It was such a happy feeling, though. Why was it a happy feeling? You know, I think we'd just finally given up.

"I think we had acknowledged that he would not be coming home alive, so this is homecoming."