Texas soldier's remains come home after being missing for decades
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - After six decades, the remains of a Texas soldier who fought in the Korean war are back on U.S. soil and have been identified as Major Harvey H. Storms.
It's the call the Storms family of Pflugerville has been waiting for for 69 years. Sam Storms recalls the moment his mom received the dreaded knock on the door by U.S. soldiers back in 1950.
"She started crying and sobbing as best as I could remember," Storms said. "And she said Sammy I don't know what we are going to do but God's going to take care of us and he did and he has."
Storms was nine at the time and the eldest of four boys. The Storms family went on with life but never stopped searching for their father.
"All we had was what was in the newspaper and at first we thought he had become a prisoner of war in North Korea because several of the troops had been captured and taken to prison camps," said Storms.
Soldiers who returned home from war told the Storms family about their father's heroic efforts.
One story resonated with Storms, Sgt. Bill Rowland's who was near his father at the withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
Sam Storms' daughter Melissa Cook shared his story online.
"At one point he heard my grandfather say 'let's take the hill' so they could go back around to get others that were pinned down on the other side of the hill. As he and other soldiers were climbing the icy hill, my grandfather, with about 10-12 bullet holes in his arm and chest area, was sliding back down the hill. He said the last words he heard from my grandfather were 'I have fought a good fight; you kids go over the hill and knock out the roadblock. I'll go back down and get the rest of them.'"
Major Storms' body remained in North Korea until August 2018 when Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and requested the return of U.S. fallen soldiers, a request the Storms family was praying for.
"President Trump is the only president that I've ever known of that even made an attempt to negotiate with that guy," Storms said.
55 cases of soldiers' remains and artifacts were transferred. Forensics teams worked to match DNA with hundreds of Korean War soldiers. In July, Storms received the call he was waiting for.
"I was sad and happy and I cried and I pulled off the road, so I wouldn't hit anybody until I could quit crying and I had hard time believing it," Storms said.
Storms had this message for military families still waiting to have their loved ones brought home.
"Don't give up hope, we never gave up hope we also never expected it to happen," said Storms.
For his leadership and valor, Major Storms was awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and most recently, Ambassador for Peace medal from the Patriots and Veterans Affairs Republic of Korea.
Major Storms will be laid to rest at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.