Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ariana Shuemake | The family of U.S. Army Pfc. Mose E. Vance are led in prayer by the airport chaplains...... read more read more
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On July 31, 2024, U.S. Army Pfc. Mose E. Vance, of Bradshaw, West Virginia, returned home decades after he was killed during World War II. Vance was 21 at the time of his death in 1945.
During a dignified transfer, the remains of Vance were released to his closest living relative and next-of-kin. For the past several decades, Vance had been interred at the U.S. Military Cemetery at St. Avold, France, known today as Lorraine American Cemetery. Following his return to the United States, his final resting place will be at the Vance Cemetery in Paynesville, West Virginia. Services will be held at the Memorial Funeral Directory, in Princeton, West Virginia on August 10, 2024.
Following the identification and accountability of Vance on January 5, 2024, his return home is one of the last chapters in the years-long journey for the Vance family.
Oakley Ferrell Vance, or “Ferrell” as he calls himself, Vance’s closest living relative, recalls starting the project with his brother.
“Well, about five or six years ago, me and my brother actually started talking about the whole family, how we used to hear her grandmother (Ferrell’s great-grandmother) and my grandmother talking about Uncle Mose,” Ferrell said. “And she never would accept that he got killed in service. She always thought that he was missing and would someday be found, or had amnesia. She just never would accept it and I guess getting older and my brother and I started talking about it. I said ‘let’s try to find him.’”
Throughout the next several years, Ferrell, as a means to fill his time after retirement, “kept digging” which led him to get in touch with a volunteer organization in France, that was sponsoring Vance. “I got in contact with him and after a couple years of searching...they gave me a lot of information…they traced it to where they had his remains and they did some DNA testing and got a positive hit,” Ferrell recalled.
Once Vance was positively identified based on the DNA analysis results, Jim Bell, a U.S. Army Identification Specialist working for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), stepped in.
“I notify the family of the identification. I get a Casualty Assistance Officer (CAO) assigned and then I brief the family on the loss/recovery of the Soldier and how the Soldier was identified,” Bell stated.
Once Bell submits the request for a CAO, the Casualty Assistance Center (CAC) out of Fort Knox, Kentucky, routes the request to the closest available CAO. Sgt. 1st Class Miranda Green, a medical readiness noncommissioned officer, assigned to the West Virginia Army National Guard, then received notification that she would be the CAO assigned to Ferrell.
“My role as a CAO is to provide assistance and support to the NOK. I mostly serve as a liaison between DPAA, Fort Knox CAC, and the family,” said Green.
“Once we did find [Vance], Jim Bell got in touch with me and started working through Miranda, and they started coordinating everything for us,” Ferrell said. “And all of them took over from [there], I more or less stayed in touch and followed directions.”
Green’s role as the liaison also provided her a unique opportunity.
“I have worked as the go-between and helped the family throughout the identification briefing. I had the honor of presenting the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medals to Ferrell,” Green said.
“Jim Bell did a presentation for me,” Ferrell said, recalling the identification briefing. “[Green] walked me through that, then at the end of it she surprised me and brought out a bag and it had all of Mose’s medals in it. I broke down in tears.”
After the identification briefing was completed, Bell and Green assisted Ferrell in doing the paperwork to plan the transport of the remains, and the funeral for Vance.
“Once the family makes their funeral decision, I work with the various agencies to get the remains to the funeral site,” said Bell. “I also track and assist in coordinating the case with the CAO and Casualty Assistance Center to ensure the arrival of the remains, funeral honors, etc. …all take place as planned.”
“After that, it’s just been getting [Vance] back, and it’s been a journey,” Ferrell said.
The process of transporting the remains of a deceased U.S. military member is referred to as a dignified transfer. A dignified transfer is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in the theater of operation while in the service of their country. And Vance is no different.
“This case is important to me because, as a fellow servicemember, I value the ethos of ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade.’” Green said.
“Although this case is nearly 80 years old, there are so many agencies working relentlessly to ensure we stay true to that Warrior Ethos. The dignified transport was a multifaceted event that included the family, Memorial Funeral Directory Inc., Fort Liberty Military Honors Team, American Airlines, Fort Knox Casualty Assistance Center, and Charlotte International Airport (CLT) United Services Organization (USO) Honors Support Team.”
“The CLT USO Honors Support Team (HST) supports fallen warriors, their families, and their casualty assistance personnel whenever a fallen warrior begins a final journey home at CLT, passes through CLT on the way home, or ends a final journey home at CLT,” said Mr. Greg Smith, the CLT USO HST Co-Lead. “We facilitate, coordinate and orchestrate as needed to ensure that Fallen Active Duty Warriors (of any military service) and Repatriated Warriors from any war…have a dignified transfer.”
“The CLT USO Honors Support Team coordinated [the] arrival into the CLT Airport and provided a cozy waiting room for the family with food and refreshments. Their team worked the logistical piece of the dignified transfer once the flight was in CLT,” Green said. “They had a Chaplin available. I was surprised to find out the teams were all volunteers. You could tell they wanted to do anything they could to support the family and to honor the return of Vance. They were all amazing people with gracious hearts.”
“I didn’t expect all this, you know,” Ferrell said. “I thought I would just meet the plane, get him home and have our service, and that’s it. So it’s grown a lot more than I was expecting, [it’s] special to find out that a lot more people care.”
“The most rewarding part is being able to provide closure to the family, and ensuring Vance has an appropriate resting place alongside his family members in West Virginia,” Green said. “Vance gave his life as the ultimate sacrifice to our country. He was killed in January of 1945 in France, and it has taken us nearly 80 years to identify him, bring him back home and finally honor the sacrifices he and his family made. I’m honored to play such a small role to honor a true American hero.”
“As with all my cases, the biggest reward is that we honored the sacrifice of the Soldier,” Bell said. “I told this family that Sgt. 1st Class Green and I were raised under The Soldier’s Creed and in this case, we were able to follow one of its tenants: ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade.’”
“On a personal note, I served 25 years [in the Army],” Smith said. “I take great pride in seeing today’s service members such as you, Sgt. 1st Class Green, Sgt. Tamba (the Military Escort), and the Honor Guard continue the tradition of service and honoring those who gave the ultimate [sacrifice]. It was particularly gratifying to see the grandchildren who were able to witness human respect and kindness.”
“[It’s] very emotional, and I’m kind of an emotional person – I wear my feelings on my sleeves, whether I feel good or bad,” said Ferrell. “You think it’s not real sometimes. And I used to watch World War II movies all the time…they’d shot a lot of video footage and I’d watch all of it hoping I could see him, and I never did.”
Although he never saw video footage of him, the one thing he did see was Mose’s final trip back home.
| Date Taken: | 08.03.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.03.2024 13:10 |
| Story ID: | 477725 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | BRADSHAW, WEST VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 682 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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Dignified Transfer Ceremony
