Emotional San Francisco International Ceremony For Korean War Vet's Remains

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With a bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace' playing over a loudspeaker and airport workers standing at attention Wednesday morning, the remains Army Sgt. 1st Class Phillip C. Mendoza -- who was killed in the Korean War and had been reported missing for decades -- were returned to the United States.

Family members looked on the from the tarmac at San Francisco International Airport as a military pallbearers carried Mendoza's casket from a United Airlines jet to an awaiting hearse.

A military honor guard joined ground crew workers standing at attention while travelers watched from airport windows.

The family spent several moments, silent and emotional, with the remains. His sister -- Frances Herrera -- hugged the flag-draped coffin, tears streaming down her face. Mendoza will be buried in a military ceremony at on Nov. 15 in Dixon.

"I am happy, he's in heaven. I will see him very soon," said Herrera who spent 69 years wondering what her brother's fate was. "I am happy that he is here."

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Mendoza, who grew up in Anthony, New Mexico, was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950. His remains were officially identified on Aug. 9, 2019.

Mendoza was an artilleryman with Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was killed when his unit engaged against enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. His remains could not be recovered following the battle.

Following the 2018 summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War.

The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1 and scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis to identify the soldiers.