Vietnam-era Green Beret finally returns home

Vietnam-era Green Beret finally returns home
By Mitch Weiss - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 29, 2011 13:29:44 EDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — No one had seen Sgt. 1st Class Donald Shue since he was on a mission in Laos during the Vietnam War in November 1969, so his sister was skeptical when Army officials called a few months ago to say his remains had been found.

“I said, ‘No you didn’t. I don’t believe it. It’s been 42 years. You don’t have any proof of that,’” his sister Betty Jones told The Associated Press. Then they revealed the clue that identified Shue: a Zippo lighter with his name inscribed on it.

Army officials visited her home and showed her the lighter. When she saw it, she broke down and cried.

“That was the most joyful thing I ever looked at. I knew it was Donnie,” she said.

Now, four decades later, the North Carolina soldier is coming home. Thousands are expected to pay their respects this weekend in Concord, where Shue was born, and nearby Kannapolis, where he was raised. Jones, 74, of Kannapolis, called the burial a homecoming.

“We’ve been praying and praying and praying for this day,” Jones said. “This will finally give us some closure.”
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Vietnam-era Green Beret finally returns home