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It's been more than 37 years since Lt. James Edward Hunsicker lost his life in Vietnam.
But Kathryn Hunsicker's small, cozy apartment in Brethren Village is decorated with numerous reminders of her son, an Army helicopter pilot who died April 24, 1972, while on an emergency rescue mission.
A handsome, framed photograph of him, dating from his college days, sits on a table. His collection of medals — including the Silver Star he was posthumously awarded for heroism — hangs on a wall.
Scrapbooks and photo albums chronicling his too-brief life rest in a basket on the floor.
After the Sunday News ran a package in September on local servicemen whose remains are unaccounted for in the Korean and Vietnam wars, some family members came forward to tell their stories, including Mrs. Hunsicker. Others participated in interviews after their names were provided to the paper.
'I miss him'The 94-year-old Mrs. Hunsicker, who looks remarkably young for her age, has been widowed since 1984 when her husband, Henry, passed away.
An only child, her son grew up in Denver, where he graduated from Cocalico High School and was active in sports, his mother said.
"He was a good kid," she said. "We never had any trouble with him."
His first name, James, came from the Bible, Mrs. Hunsicker said, and his middle name was the same as his father's.
Mrs. Hunsicker still has a Mother's Day card he made in kindergarten that reads: "Love to Mother from Jimmy."
A Boy Scout talented at drawing, her son also was crowned king at his high school prom.
In 1963, his church group traveled to Washington, D.C., with a petition to keep the Bible in public schools.
He attended Bob Jones University and then transferred to Carson-Newman College, a Christian liberal arts school in Jefferson City, Tenn., where he competed in soccer and track and field.
James majored in business administration, was drafted while still at college, and went into the service after graduating in 1969.
Leafing through a photo album, his mother points out a few women he dated, including a Miss Pennsylvania. But her son made a conscious decision not to get serious with anyone, Mrs Hunsicker said.
"He didn't want to get involved with a girl till he got back from the war," she said.
Mrs. Hunsicker said James chose to become a pilot, telling his parents that he'd "rather fly over Vietnam than walk through it."
She knew well what it was like to have a loved one serving in harm's way: Her husband was a prisoner of war for 4½ months after being captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge.
Mrs. Hunsicker still has some of the letters her son wrote home from Vietnam.
He died while commanding a utility helicopter attempting to evacuate U.S. military advisers from Dak To, which was under North Vietnamese attack.
Hunsicker was fatally wounded as the aircraft flew away under heavy machine gun fire. But he was still able to slow the descent of the helicopter before it struck the ground.
At first, the Hunsickers were told their son was missing in action, but Mrs. Hunsicker sensed immediately the news would get worse. "I knew he was dead before they ever told me," she said.
Her faith pulled her through, Mrs. Hunsicker said.
"The Lord was really good to me," she said. "He gave me great peace."
Dealing with their son's death was tougher for her husband, she said. "It was very hard for him."
In June 1973, at the request of Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp, the Hunsickers represented the state at the "Dallas Salute to Vietnam Veterans" event held at the Cotton Bowl in Texas.
Mrs. Hunsicker said she got much out of the experience, but it was overwhelming for her husband. "He just cried and cried."
She has since been visited by her son's best friend from Vietnam. Mrs. Hunsicker's also given a DNA sample for use in possibly identifying his remains.
"I miss him," she said.
But she knows her son's in heaven, Mrs. Hunsicker said, and that makes the loss bearable.
'Happy-go-lucky'Urbana Mae Warfel, who resides in Willow Street, is the younger sister of Sgt. Wilson Meckley Jr., declared missing in action Dec. 2, 1950, around Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Three years later, he was presumed dead.
They came from a family of seven children, Wilson being the oldest.
Mrs. Warfel was born in Willow Street, but mostly grew up in Lancaster city, she said.
"He was happy-go-lucky," she said of her brother, who was shipped to Korea when she was a teenager.
Wilson loved ice cream, she said, and used to send his younger siblings to the store to pick up a half-gallon for him. Then he'd sit in his room and eat the whole thing, Mrs. Warfel said.
When the family learned her brother was MIA, "It was terrible," she said.
Mrs. Warfel said she thinks he was driving a truck blown up by Chinese forces. Two of her brothers have supplied DNA samples should his remains be recovered.
'There is hope'Florence Stewart, the older sister of Pfc. James Walter Stewart, a Korean War POW who died in captivity, lives in Lancaster city.
The Stewarts also had two other siblings; the family was broken up after their mother died, she said, with one child being adopted and the other three going into foster care.
Because they were raised apart, she didn't have much contact with her younger brother.
But when she learned that he enlisted, "I was worried about him," she said.
Stewart has the last letter written by her brother to their father, in which he assures his dad that he's coming home.
The Army also has given Stewart her brother's medals and documents related to his service, she said.
Four years ago, she donated a DNA sample that might someday be used to identify his remains.
"There is hope," Stewart said.
Athlete and heroDoris Peiffer is the widow of Tech. Sgt. Quentin L. Newswanger, killed in action in Korea. She remarried and lives in Quarryville with her second husband, Eugene. They have two sons, Scott and Kent.
Quentin Newswanger was the only child of Harry and Winona Newswanger. His father died when he was a senior in high school, Mrs. Peiffer said, and Winona Newswanger remained close to the Peiffers, treating Scott and Kent as her grandchildren.
Don Fisher, of Strasburg Township, is a nephew of Quentin Newswanger. "He was like a surrogate father to me," Fisher said.
In honor of his uncle, he named his son Robert Quentin. He also has a grandson Joshua Quentin, he said.
Decades ago, a tree in Newswanger's memory was planted in a Quarryville park, Mrs. Peiffer said. Several of his medals remain in her possession, including a Purple Heart.
The Korean War was the second he fought in the U.S. military: During World War II, he flew 32 missions.
Newswanger was a 1942 alumnus of Quarryville High School.
He loved sports, Mrs. Peiffer said, and was very outgoing. A postal carrier, he hoped someday to become a postal inspector, she said.
James Pennington, a retired dentist who resides in Quarryville, was a good friend of Newswanger's growing up.
For a time, they also attended Franklin & Marshall College together, he said.
Newswanger was two years ahead of him in high school, Pennington said, and "was quite a basketball player and baseball player."
When they returned from World War II, Pennington managed a baseball team on which Newswanger played second base.
Nicknamed Curly, Newswanger was just a good all-around athlete, Pennington said. "If you gave him a ball, he knew what to do with it."
Recalled into the military after the Korean War started, Newswanger was sent to MacDill Air Force Base in March 1951. He left for Okinawa, Japan, in September of that year.
A B-29 radar operator, he was 27 when he went missing in action Oct. 23, 1951, on a bombing raid in North Korea. He was listed as killed in action Jan. 18, 1952.
Until she read the Sunday News article on Newswanger, Mrs. Peiffer said she didn't know his plane was likely shot down by a Russian MiG fighter.
She said she did talk to several crew members in B-29s behind Newswanger's, and they told her his Super Fortress left the formation and headed for water. "They were hoping [the plane] made it" to safety after it was hit, Mrs. Peiffer said.
Remains that may have been Newswanger's washed ashore on a small island and were buried by United Nations forces. Items on the body, including a wallet and dog tags, were returned to Mrs. Peiffer.
In Quarryville Cemetery, there's a tombstone with Newswanger's name on it, atop an empty grave.
It was so hard to deal with his death, Mrs. Peiffer said, "because there was no closure."
Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.
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