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 The remains of an American soldier — reported missing nearly 63 years ago while fighting in the Korean War — finally returned home Wednesday. Conklin's remains have been identified... (Associated Press) 
 
 A plane carrying the casket with George J. Conklin Jr.'s remains arrived Wednesday at the Rochester airport, where it was met by a military honor guard, family members and Patriot Guard motorcycle riders. Conklin was 18 when he went missing in early December 1950, following a battle in North Korea with Chinese forces, according to the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel office. In 2004, a Joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea team surveyed the grounds where Conklin and his fellow members of Company 1, 31st Regimental Combat Team, had fought.
– George Conklin was all of 18 when he got killed fighting in the Korean War in 1950. More than six decades later, the Army corporal is finally back home for burial in upstate New York, reports AP. His were among the remains recovered near North Korea's Chosin Reservoir in 2004, and a military lab recently identified Conklin thanks to a DNA sample given years ago by a now-deceased brother. “It’s closure," a niece tells the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. "He's coming home.” Conklin will be buried with full military honors on Saturday in Phelps, next to his parents. The teen enlisted at 17, was reported missing after the Chosin battle, then listed as killed in action when the war ended. Hundreds greeted his casket when it arrived in Phelps yesterday. "It was a phenomenal sight," says the funeral home owner. "It was amazingly silent. It was like a peace come over everybody."