MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the Korean War will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
According to the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services, U.S. Army Captain Rufus J. Hyman of Memphis was serving overseas with Company A, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division when he went missing in July 1950.
The Central High School graduate was only 23-year-old at the time.
A year later, a search and recovery team was sent to the area where Hyman was reported missing and located remains of a fallen soldier. Despite best efforts, the remains were never positively identified and were instead sent to the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii to be buried.
That is until 2017 when renewed efforts were undertaken to bring closure to a Mid-South family who had for decades gone without answers.
On February 20, 2019, scientists using DNA and other evidence positively identified Hyman’s remains.
“The Hyman family finally has the closure that they deserve,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in a release on Tuesday. “We join them in pausing to remember this Tennessee hero as he is laid to rest in the Arlington National Cemetery.”
To honor the Tennessee soldier, Lee has declared Wednesday, October 9 be a day of mourning to remember his ultimate sacrifice.
Hyman is survived by several nieces and a nephew. The nephew still lives in Bartlett, Tennessee.
