After over 50 years, a local family gets to pay tribute to their lost loved one.
Captain Richard H. Simpson was presumed dead on April 12, 1951 when his B-29 was attacked by enemy fighters and crashed in Sinuiju, North Korea.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Simpson was one of eleven crewmembers on a B-29 Superfortress that left Kadena Air Base, Japan, to bomb targets in the area of Sinuiju. Enemy MiG-15 fighters attacked the B-29, but before it crashed, three crewmembers were able to bail out. They were captured and two of them were later released in 1954 to U.S. military control during Operation ‘Big Switch.? The third crewmember died in captivity, who along with the other eight remaining crewmembers, were not recovered.
In 1993, the North Korean government turned over to the United Nations Command 31 boxes containing the remains of U.S. servicemen listed as unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Four sets of remains from this group were subsequently identified as crewmembers from the B-29. Simpson was not among them.
Then, in 2000, a joint U.S./Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated an infantry fighting position in Kujang County where they recovered remains, the Department of Defense said.
Last December, it was concluded, through a variety of forensic identification tools, that those remains included Simpson and Col. Douglas H. Hatfield, of Shenandoah, Va.
Simpson was born July 23, 1923 in Detroit to the late Harold and Vera Hazel (Pask) Simpson.
Father of Jo Ann Simpson-Libby, of Lake Orion, and the late Diane ‘Rusty? Simpson-Davis.
Husband of Molly Sundell Simpson-Beauchamp of Lake Orion.
Brother of Donna Marie Bell and the late Kenneth.
Grandfather of Brent Richard Simpson, Benjamin Leslie Kennedy Libby, Darren Lee Ackley and Jason Michael Davis.
Also survived by many great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Captain Simpson was a decorated veteran of World War II, and served in Korea as a member of the 22nd troop carrier squadron of the United States Air Force.
Funeral services will be held Saturday (Aug. 2) at 10 a.m. from the Lake Orion Chapel, Sparks-Griffin Funeral Home, located at 111 East Flint Street in downtown Lake Orion (248-693-8336).
Visitation for family and friends will be held on Friday from 2-8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Internment Mount Vernon Cemetery.