In a chapel in a small town nestled in the shadows of the snow-capped Clinch Mountain, near Sneedville, Tennessee, a standing room only crowd gathered to remember a man no one there had ever met. An elderly woman held a folded copy of a newspaper on her lap. It contained an unusual obituary of a 22-year-old Sailor who had died in 1943. His burial was to be 26 January 2008.
Veterans of all the service branches from four wars, school children, and distant relatives had come to honor Seaman First Class General Preston Douglas. Born in 1921, in Newcomb, Tennessee, Douglas was in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the USS Helena (CL-50) when the ship came under attack at the Battle of Kula Gulf.
An Unknown Fate
On the morning of 6 July 1943, a Japanese submarine torpedoed the Helena. Nearly 1,000 men were on board. Of these all but 174 were safely evacuated from the ship before it slipped into its watery grave. Douglas was among those who died in the attack. For the next two years he was listed as missing in action. Finally, in 1945 he was officially declared killed in action. Though the new designation brought some degree of closure to his grieving family, questions persisted.
For years Douglas's sister, Regina, made inquiries about her brother's fate. The mystery was finally solved in 2006. On a warm, sunny day on a secluded beach on the Solomon Island of Kolombangar, a beachcomber discovered a dogtag protruding from the sand. After a little digging he found several bones. He contacted the Department of Defense (DOD), which excavated the area. Uncovered were bones, teeth, the dogtags, and a metal four-leaf clover Douglas was wearing the night he was killed.
The DOD noted that Douglas' remains were 50 miles from where the battle had taken place. How they got there is a mystery. The department issued a statement that the prevailing theory is his body washed ashore where it was buried by natives. Later, soil erosion may have partially uncovered it.
After careful investigation the DOD located the Douglas family, which had since moved from Newcomb to Sneedville. Investigators wanted to make certain that the remains were indeed those of Douglas. To do this, they used mouth swabs to obtain DNA from Douglas' nephews. They then began the arduous task of comparing that DNA to that of the recovered MIA. The tests confirmed that the remains were indeed those of Seaman First Class General Douglas.
"My mother spent many years wondering what happened to her brother," said Denny Douglas, nephew of General Douglas. "We were all very happy when the Department of Defense confirmed that it was my uncle's remains they found. It was in early 2007 that they confirmed it was him."
Unfortunately, Regina Douglas was unable to comprehend that her brother's remains had been found. She had developed Alzheimer's by 2006 and died in November 2007. She didn't live to see Douglas' remains returned home. Neither did his parents or his brother. All his relatives who attended the memorial service had not been born when he died.
'Welcome Home'
The funeral for General Douglas was held Saturday, 26 January 2008, at McNeil Funeral Home in Sneedville, nearly six and a half decades after his death. His flag-draped coffin sat next to a table with a portrait of the baby faced Sailor along with a display case containing three medals that were awarded posthumously. The Patriot Guard, a veteran's organization of motorcycle enthusiasts formed to honor fallen servicemen, bore two American flags in the chapel.
After "Amazing Grace" was sung, the Mayor of Hancock County, Greg Marion delivered a short eulogy. "I don't know how he lived," he said. "I don't know if he worked on his parents' farm before he left to answer his country's call for men, I don't know if he had a girlfriend that he sent letters to. There is so much we don't know about him. But today he is home. Welcome home brave Sailor. He will be buried next to the loving sister who wondered about him so often."
Following the service, the coffin was carried from the funeral home to a hearse. The veterans present stood and saluted as the pallbearers slowly passed. The hearse, followed by dozens of cars, news vans, and the thunderous sounds of the Patriot Guard's motorcycles, began the journey up the narrow winding road that hugged the snow-capped mountain. On one side of the road icicles hung from rocks. On the other was a cliff with a sheer drop of almost 300 feet. The procession continued at a slow pace for several miles before arriving at an old community cemetery in the shadow of Clinch Mountain.
As many as 200 people braved the chilling cold, and the color guards proudly displayed flags from all branches of the service as well as the American flag, the flag of Tennessee, and the MIA flag. An elderly veteran, wearing an Army cap, leaned on a cane with one hand and saluted with the other as the pallbearers made their way to the grave. His chin quivered as tears welled in his eyes.
The casket was gently placed over the open grave next to several floral arrangements. A card on one read "Rest in peace, proud Sailor. May you have fair winds and following seas always, in your heavenly home."
In his closing remarks the minister reminded those in attendance that "to be absent in body is to be present with the Lord." After a brief prayer there was the firing of the 21-gun salute. Dozens of active and retired servicemen, ranging in age from 20 to 80, in their military dress uniforms, saluted while civilians stood with their hands over their hearts as the mournful notes of Taps resonated throughout the valley. Douglas' casket was lowered into a grave next to his sister and near his parents.
The remains of Seaman First Class Douglas have finally been laid to rest. The details of the final fleeting moments of his all too brief life will remain, as inscribed on the Tomb of the Unknowns, "known but to God."
It was an incredible trek for Douglas, who left the hills of Tennessee to serve his country only ten days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He traveled to distant waters where he lost his life. His remains were discovered on a lonely shore thousands of miles from home. Now, Douglas' long journey is completed. Welcome home proud Sailor.
Author's Note: The DOD is actively working to recover MIAs from World War II. An estimated 74,000 are still missing, approximately 100 of which are found and properly buried each year. It is likely that most will never be recovered.