Honoring a soldier finally coming home

Members of the Cloquet Combined Honor Guard stood on an overpass over Interstate 35 in Cloquet Friday, July 24 as the body of a Korean War veteran from Superior was being brought home after his remains were identified.

After 70 years, Francis Rochon was laid to rest at Summit Cemetery in Foxboro.

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers announced Friday that U.S. and state flags would be flown at half-staff on Saturday. According to the governor's office, Army Cpl. Francis J. Rochon of Superior was buried with full military honors on Saturday after the U.S. Department of Defense positively identified his remains 70 years after his death.

Rochon was a member of the 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Sept. 1, 1950 after fierce fighting near Changnyeong, South Korea. The Army officially declared him deceased on Dec. 31, 1953, and declared his remains nonrecoverable in 1956.

Rochon's unidentified remains were buried at a cemetery in South Korea in January 1951 and reinterred in 1956 to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

The remains were disinterred in 2018 for possible identification by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. To identify Rochon's remains, scientists used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

His military awards include the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.