INSIDE INGLEWOOD-Clara Gantt, 94, waited 63 years for her husband, Sgt. First Class Joseph Enoch Gantt, to return home from the Korean War.
Sgt. Gantt was a field medic in Battery C, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division in the U.S. Army. He was declared Missing In Action (MIA) after a fierce battle near Somindong, North Korea on November 30, 1950.
On Saturday, December 28, his service and her faithfulness to his return were celebrated at The Dwelling Place, the First Foursquare Church of Inglewood. Mother Gantt's faith prompted her to not re-marry despite his absence, hoping for his eventual return. She sat in the front row facing his casket, her white-gloved hands alternately wiping away tears as well as clapping along with the music celebrating the closure to decades of doubt.
Earlier this year, his remains were identified and declared found. On December 20, they were flown into LAX and received by her.
A week later, his remains were conveyed to the church amid a motorcade provided by the Patriotic Group Riders (PGR).
According to Ron Garcia, a Vietnam vet and one of the Riders, the group's motto is "Never leave a comrade behind." He said that the organization was formed spontaneously in the 1960s in Joplin, MO, when vets literally formed a protective ring around the family of a deceased service member during that member's funeral.
In the years and decades since, the group has transformed into an honor guard of sorts. Moreover, they do not simply show up at any given serviceman's funeral for returned remains. "We must be invited by the family," Garcia said.
The Riders also assisted Mother Gantt and a number of family members up the church's steep brick steps. A military color guard carried the casket up the steps and into the church.
At the private service officiated by Pastor Lamont Leonard, a number of family members and servicemen were each granted a few minutes to speak. One speaker, Lt. Col. Solomon Jamerson, was an infantryman who fought alongside Sgt. Gantt the day he went MIA.
"They were like ants, spreading over the countryside. I fired all day long that day, to try to eliminate them. That night, November 30th to December 1st, was when they overran our units and took several lives of the 503rd Field Artillery Battalion," said Jamerson in recalling the battle.
Joseph Gantt had enlisted during WWII and saw battle before returning home in January, 1946. It was shortly after he returned home that he met his future wife on a train traveling from Texas to California. He was smitten with her immediately, but she was hesitant to marry him until she knew he was the one. On June 15, 1948, she realized that he was indeed the man for her.
He was deployed to Korea in 1950. He was eventually declared Killed In Action (KIA) by the U.S. Defense Prisoner of War/Missing personnel Office based in Washington, D.C.
"He told me if anything happened to him he wanted me to remarry. I told him, 'No, no.' Here I am still his wife," she told reporters on December 20 while standing on the tarmac at LAX near her home in Inglewood, CA.
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a monthly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Views expressed and/or conclusions reached by Mr. Fleming are his and do not necessarily reflect those of CityWatch.) Photo credit: Randall Fleming.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 105
Pub: Dec 31, 2013