“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways men can be immortal.”

Ernest Hemingway

SOLDIER’S CREED

I am an American Soldier.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.

It is the seventh line in the Soldier’s Creed. It is a promise. A promise that if you fall in service to our country you will be remembered. Medal of Honor Recipient Luther H. Story fell in 1950 during the Korean War. Monday, May 29, 2003, Memorial Day, his remains will be interred in Andersonville National Cemetery as a promise is kept. More than 70 years after Corporal Story fell, he will be laid to rest. That is a story worth telling.

LUTHER

Luther Herschel Story was born in Buena Vista, Georgia on July 30, 1931:

He enlisted in the U.S. Army on October 21, 1948, and after completing Basic Training and Advanced Training as an Infantryman, PFC Story served with Company A, 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington, until July 1950, when he deployed with his unit to Pusan, South Korea, at the beginning of the Korean War.

He was barely 17 when he enlisted in the Army and completed his training. Men were older at 17 back then. Here is the story of his deployment from Task and Purpose:

On September 1, 1950, Story was 19 years old and a weapons squad leader with Alpha Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. His squad was in a fighting position overlooking the Naktong River in South Korea, but other nearby attacks had already left them partially cut off and in danger of being surrounded. Witnessing a group of enemy soldiers attempting to cross the river, Story personally manned a machine gun and killed or wounded an estimated 100 enemy soldiers.

As a truck carrying additional troops and ammunition drove up a road towards Story’s squad, he collected grenades from his men and was seen tossing them at the vehicle while exposing himself to enemy fire. While Story’s unit was withdrawing under heavy fire, he was wounded.
“Realizing that his wounds would hamper his comrades, he refused to retire to the next position but remained to cover the company’s withdrawal,” reads his Medal of Honor citation. “When last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault.”

Private First Class to Corporal and Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor Citation:

Pfc. Story, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. A savage daylight attack by elements of 3 enemy divisions penetrated the thinly held lines of the 9th Infantry. Company A beat off several banzai attacks but was bypassed and in danger of being cut off and surrounded. Pfc. Story, a weapons squad leader, was heavily engaged in stopping the early attacks and had just moved his squad to a position overlooking the Naktong River when he observed a large group of the enemy crossing the river to attack Company A. Seizing a machine gun from his wounded gunner he placed deadly fire on the hostile column killing or wounding an estimated 100 enemy soldiers. Facing certain encirclement the company commander ordered a withdrawal. During the move Pfc. Story noticed the approach of an enemy truck loaded with troops and towing an ammunition trailer. Alerting his comrades to take cover he fearlessly stood in the middle of the road, throwing grenades into the truck. Out of grenades he crawled to his squad, gathered up additional grenades and again attacked the vehicle. During the withdrawal the company was attacked by such superior numbers that it was forced to deploy in a rice field. Pfc. Story was wounded in this action, but, disregarding his wounds, rallied the men about him and repelled the attack. Realizing that his wounds would hamper his comrades he refused to retire to the next position but remained to cover the company’s withdrawal. When last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault. Private Story’s extraordinary heroism, aggressive leadership, and supreme devotion to duty reflect the highest credit upon himself and were in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the military service.

Private 1st Class Story was promoted posthumously to Corporal Story.

Never Left Behind

The answer was waiting for science to catch up. More from Task and Purpose:

Story’s father was presented with his posthumous Medal of Honor in 1951. In September 1953, with Story’s body never having been recovered and no record of him as a prisoner of war existing, he was declared dead by the Army. Three years later, his remains were determined to be unrecoverable.
For decades, that was the official record.
About six weeks after Story’s death, though, 11 sets of remains were found around the area Story had been killed in action. Eight were identified, but three others – including one designated “X-260 Tanggok” – were transported to Hawaii. There, they were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

In 2018, the DPAA began a project to identify some of the 652 unknown soldiers killed during the Korean War and buried at the Punchbowl. In 2021, X-260 Tanggok was one of the sets of remains selected.
Using “dental and anthropological analysis” along with mitochondrial DNA analysis, DPAA scientists were able to confirm that X-260 Tanggok was, in fact, Cpl. Luther H. Story.

Luther Comes Home

Corporal Luther Story’s Mother, Father, Sister and Brother have also passed. His sister’s daughter, Judy Wade is his nearest relation:

“Well, I didn’t know how big a loss it was until I started getting around the people that I’ve been around in Washington and everywhere I’ve been,” Wade said. “I never realized how much my momma and my granddaddy and grandmama hurt because of his loss. And now I’m beginning to understand it a whole lot more than I ever did.”
It was such a big deal that General Omar Bradley – the Army’s last five-star commander – posthumously presented Story’s father with the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military recognition.
And 73 years later it was still a big deal. Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Coyne escorted the remains back to Georgia from Hawaii. Here’s what happened in Phoenix.

“As we approached the gates to deplane there was a procession of police officers and fire departments,” Coyne said. “Their vehicles were lined along the gates and they were all waiting for Corporal Story to arrive. And they rendered a salute as he got off the plane. And I was able to shake every one of their hands and thank them for their service to their community and also for their respect to Corporal Story and his sacrifice.”
Judy Wade’s mother, Gwendolyn Story Chambliss, died in February 2017. So this week, that leaves Judy Wade to close the book on a painful and heroic chapter in her family’s history – and the nation’s history.
Judy Wade/Luther Story’s niece
“It’s going to mean that I don’t have to be concerned anymore or worry anymore about whether or not he’s coming home because he’ll be there. And I’ll know he’s there. I know he already was with Grandmama, momma, Granddaddy up in heaven.”

Welcome Home, Corporal Story

Featured Image: Find a Grave/cropped Creative Commons 4.0

Korean War Luther H. Story Medal of Honor Memorial Day 2023