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Lost in war, soldier returns home after 56 years

DNA identifies the Korean War casualty who vanished in 1950.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published November 8, 2006

Fred Alonzo and Alfred Alonzo Jr. view the casket containing the remains of their father, Army Master Sgt. Alfred Alonzo Sr.
	[Times photos: Ken Helle]

ADVERTISEMENT Alfred Alonzo Sr. disappeared in 1950. His remains were found in 2000 and brought back to Tampa to his sons on Tuesday.

TAMPA - More than a half-century ago in Tampa, two fatherless boys grew up a mile apart. The older one was Alfred Alonzo Jr.; the younger, Fred Alonzo. The two never met.

But at night each dreamed of a dark shadow.

"People told me that's your father taking care of you," said Fred Alonzo, now 56.

Their mothers, the ex-wife and the widow of Army Master Sgt. Alfred Alonzo Sr., told them their father had disappeared in the Korean War in November 1950. His remains had not been found.

But news last month brought the half brothers together for the first time. DNA evidence had finally identified their father.

They met Tuesday at Tampa International Airport. They laid hands on the soldier's casket, covered by an American flag, and wept.

"He's come home," said Alfred Alonzo Jr., now 64.

The remains of Mr. Alonzo, along with those of seven other U.S. servicemen, were discovered in the summer of 2000 near a North Korean village south of Unsan. His regiment, the 8th Cavalry, had been attacked by the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces.

His first wife, Regina Alonzo, now deceased, never believed her ex-husband was dead. She figured he had escaped and was living with a Korean woman, said Alfred Alonzo Jr., a Vietnam veteran.

Mr. Alonzo married his second wife, Lupe Alonzo, in 1948. Months later, he left for Korea and sent for her. She settled in Tokyo, where Fred was born in 1950. Lupe Alonzo last saw her husband when Fred was 3 months old. She waited for Mr. Alonzo for several years in Tokyo before coming home to Tampa, where she lives with her son.

"Finally, thank the man above, he can get his rest," Fred Alonzo said.

Funeral services are set for 10 a.m. Friday at Boza & Roel Funeral Home, 4730 N Armenia Ave. Mr. Alonzo will be buried at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at 813 226-3321 or edyer@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 8, 2006, 01:45:07]