Leon Cooper can't forget those who didn't return from World War II.
Cooper, 96, is a Chicago native who lives in Malibu, Calif., and an advocate for the repatriation of the remains of thousands of U.S. soldiers who are buried on the Pacific islands where they fought and died.
"(They) literally lie where they fell in unmarked graves," Cooper said. "The real hurt here is to the survivors, the next of kin who know nothing whatsoever about their loved ones, not even the circumstances of his death."
Cooper has returned to Chicago to be recognized Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field as the White Sox's Hero of the Game. He will also be given five military medals he never claimed, said White Sox spokeswoman Christine O'Reilly.
Finding remains after all this time is quite difficult. And many simply will never be recovered.
Those members who were recovered in the immediate aftermath of battle were typically buried in a temporary division cemetery.
After the war, around 1947, the US government offered to repatriate the remains of the fallen either to a national cemetery here in the US, or in one of several overseas battlefield monuments.
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