Founder and Managing Partner
A family will be reunited as their loved ones remains are finally returned home. U.S. Army Pfc. Noah Reeves was reported killed in action in 1944. He served during World War II.His remains were flown into Birmingham, Alabama’s Shuttlesworth International Airport on Thursday, and family was there to greet the plane and receive him.Reeves, who is a Moulton, Alabama, native, was assigned to a company in the European Theater. His team was battling with the German military when he was reported killed in action. Three years later, a German resident found Reeves’ remains, but he couldn’t be identified, and he was buried in an American cemetery in Belgium. Over 70 years later, research suggested those remains could belong to Reeves. They were then sent off to be identified and were matched to surviving family’s DNA.Historians said Reeves was only 24 years old when he enlisted in the military. He served in the Army for two years total but only served on the front line for two weeks before he was killed just days before his birthday.Kim Reeves, who is Reeves’ great nephew, said he was one of three people asked by the United States Army to donate DNA to help identify those remains. Kim and his family got the closure they’d been searching for nearly 80 years, but the family never knew what happened to their loved one.“Can you imagine if it was my child or your child,” he said. “His mother—she grieved herself to death because her son never came home. I guess you have to know the love of a mother if something like that happens. I don’t know if you have children or not, that would be a hard pill to swallow.” Reeves’ great niece Beverly Hake hopes their journey inspires others with missing family to keep searching for answers, too.“The fact that he’s coming back now with family that still remembers the stories and having him and having that closure for the family and all the people that were involved in bringing that about,” she said. “It’s just amazing, and I know there’s going to be a lot of people waiting for their family members to come home, and if it happened with him 79 years later, it can happen for just about anyone.”Reeves’ remains were taken back to his hometown, where he’ll be met with a welcome home. The processional went through Gardendale, Fultondale and Warrior, where flags and balloons were used to honor him as he passed through. There will be a viewing on Monday and a funeral service on Tuesday.
A family will be reunited as their loved ones remains are finally returned home. U.S. Army Pfc. Noah Reeves was reported killed in action in 1944. He served during World War II.
His remains were flown into Birmingham, Alabama’s Shuttlesworth International Airport on Thursday, and family was there to greet the plane and receive him.
Advertisement
Reeves, who is a Moulton, Alabama, native, was assigned to a company in the European Theater. His team was battling with the German military when he was reported killed in action. Three years later, a German resident found Reeves’ remains, but he couldn’t be identified, and he was buried in an American cemetery in Belgium.
Over 70 years later, research suggested those remains could belong to Reeves. They were then sent off to be identified and were matched to surviving family’s DNA.
Historians said Reeves was only 24 years old when he enlisted in the military. He served in the Army for two years total but only served on the front line for two weeks before he was killed just days before his birthday.
Kim Reeves, who is Reeves’ great nephew, said he was one of three people asked by the United States Army to donate DNA to help identify those remains. Kim and his family got the closure they’d been searching for nearly 80 years, but the family never knew what happened to their loved one.
“Can you imagine if it was my child or your child,” he said. “His mother—she grieved herself to death because her son never came home. I guess you have to know the love of a mother if something like that happens. I don’t know if you have children or not, that would be a hard pill to swallow.”
Reeves’ great niece Beverly Hake hopes their journey inspires others with missing family to keep searching for answers, too.
“The fact that he’s coming back now with family that still remembers the stories and having him and having that closure for the family and all the people that were involved in bringing that about,” she said. “It’s just amazing, and I know there’s going to be a lot of people waiting for their family members to come home, and if it happened with him 79 years later, it can happen for just about anyone.”
Reeves’ remains were taken back to his hometown, where he’ll be met with a welcome home. The processional went through Gardendale, Fultondale and Warrior, where flags and balloons were used to honor him as he passed through. There will be a viewing on Monday and a funeral service on Tuesday.
(source)