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Army Corporal Who Disappeared In Korea Laid To Rest 60 Years Later

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CECIL TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- It took more than six decades, but Thursday, a local soldier was laid to rest in Allegheny County.

It was a day to remember for a soldier who was lost for 60 years.

Army Corporal Daniel Kelly disappeared while fighting in Korea in November 1950. He was just 18 years old. Kelly was presumed captured by the Chinese and died in a prison camp.

Corporal Kelly was not alone in serving. In fact, he was the youngest of nine brothers, all of whom enlisted in the Army.

"I don't think any one family -- if there is, God bless them -- gave more to their country than these guys," Kelly's nephew Dan Kelly said.

That included "Commando Kelly," the first American soldier in Europe to earn the medal of honor.

"They really were a very unique bunch of brothers," Dan Kelly said. "They were very tight. Extremely tight. I think there's secrets their wives don't know."

Those brothers never gave up on trying to find Daniel. Two of them provided DNA to the Defense Department. With their help, Daniel was identified, and his remains flown back from Korea.

"Now all nine boys are together again," Kelly said.

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