By Jim Clark

Corporal Ronald M. Sparks, United States Army, from Cambridge, MA, became Missing in Action (MIA) while his unit (Co. D, 1st Bn, 38th Infantry Regt, 2nd Infantry Div.) was clearing a road block held by the opposing forces in the vicinity of Hoengsong, R.O.K. (Republic of Korea) on February 12, 1951.

A repatriated American Prisoner of War (POW) reported that PFC SPARKS died while in captivity at POW Camp 1, Changsong, Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea on May 26, 1951.

Corporal Sparks was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” device (for valor) prior to becoming an MIA Soldier in August 1950, and was also a Purple Heart Medal recipient.

Corporal Sparks’ remains were never returned to U.S. soil, until his nephew, Robert Sparks, undertook an initiative to locate them and bring them home.

Robert Sparks contacted the U.S. Army’s Past Conflicts Repatriation Branch, provided them with photographs, family biographies, dental records and most important DNA samples. He attended meetings and kept in close contact with his uncle’s case file officer who was located at Fort Knox, Ky.

In his efforts to locate his uncle’s remains, Robert learned that, as an irrefutable principle of military protocol, no soldier is ever left behind either on the battlefield or as a missing combatant.

He took great comfort in knowing that in the search for his Uncle Ron, a 20-year-old boy from River Street in Cambridge, the United States military never gave up.

After an 11 year quest, Cpl. Sparks’ remains were located and returned to the U.S., where he was finally laid to rest with his parents and little brother Clifford in Woodlawn Cemetery, in Everett, MA.

Cpl. Sparks’ sister, Irene Sparks, lives in Somerville.