Posted at: 07/29/2009 5:24 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 07/30/2009 12:16 AM
By: Nikki Rudd

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Missing Korean War vet's remains finally make it home

It was a hero's welcome Wednesday at the Greater Rochester International Airport. After nearly 60 years a Webster soldier's remains are back home.
    
Sgt. Stanley Baylor went missing in action in 1950 during the Korean War. His coffin came out of a Delta plane draped in the red, white and blue.
    
"He's finally home!" said Leon Baylor.
    
The fallen soldier's younger brother was there to see it, but some couldn't find the words.
    
"I can't even hardly talk," said nephew Bob Baylor. "I'm sorry. It means a lot to me."
    
Sgt. Baylor went missing in November 1950 in Unsan, North Korea. A few years later the military declared him killed in action.
    
In the 1990's, North Korea gave the U.S. 208 boxes of remains believed to contain hundreds of U.S. servicemen. But it took until late last year for the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab to identify Sgt. Baylor as part of those remains.
 
His remains were identified through DNA and dental records. On Wednesday those remains finally came home.     
   
"I just felt: that's my brother, and we used to play together and now he's gone," said sister Mary Beagle.
    
"He's in there," said niece Janet Fus. "He's home."
    
For the Baylor family this day brings closure.
    
"There's no more stories," said niece Denise Baylor. "We know now. He's home."
    
"Dad always wanted to know what happened to Stanley," said nephew Bob Baylor. "We had given up hope. All of the sudden it's the greatest day in the world to me. He's home."
    
Sister Mary Beagle added, "I spent 58 years hunting for him so it's a moment of joy and grief for me."
    
Joy because he's home. Grief because he's gone.
    
"It's more real, and it's the reality of his being gone," said Beagle. "It just hit me when they brought the coffin off the plane."
    
Family members say the hero's welcome from fellow veterans, the NYSP and the Patriot Riders was overwhelming. 
    
"It gave me goose bumps," said Denise Baylor. "The hair on my neck was standing up! It was very emotional, extremely emotional. What a welcoming."
    
It's a day Sgt. Baylor's little sister will never forget....
    
"I am totally 100% humbled that all of these people are here," said Beagle. "I'm really awed, and it's wonderful."
    
Sgt. Baylor was just 21 years old when he died during combat. His entire unit was killed by Chinese Communist Forces.
    
A memorial service with full military honors is this Saturday in Warsaw. He'll then be buried with his parents in Dalton, Livingston County.

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