Burial provides closure for family

Daughter's persistence brings father's remains home to rest

Video

The funeral of Captain William Kennedy Mauldin takes place in Easley, SC Watch »

Wade Spees
The Post and Courier

Corinne Mauldin (right) and her daughter Mary Catherine Mauldin Hadaway (left) listen to taps being played at the funeral.

EASLEY — The tribute to Air Force Capt. William K. Mauldin came 56 years late. But that Friday's moving funeral service here came at all is a testament to a country's commitment to find its war dead and a daughter's search for a father she barely knew.

Corinne Mauldin of James Island was just 2 when her father, a former Citadel cadet from Pickens, was shot down Feb. 21, 1952, during the Korean War. She has spent her entire adult life seeking answers from the military in an effort to locate his remains and bring them home for proper burial.

The military identified William Mauldin's remains earlier this year through DNA testing.

Mauldin attended The Citadel from 1940 to 1942 before his entire class was called to service in World War II. Like many from the military college's vaunted class of 1944, Mauldin was never able to earn a Citadel ring. Instead, he earned a chest full of medals as the ace pilot of an RF-51 Mustang.

Mauldin was flying a reconnaissance mission years later in Korea when his plane was hit by enemy ground fire over Sinan-ri. His remains actually had been discovered in 1993, but it was only recently, through his daughter's persistence and modern DNA testing techniques, that the Air Force was able to link human remains found near a crash site in the mountains of North Korea to Mauldin.

Mauldin, a Purple Heart recipient, was buried with full military honors. The graveside service took place atop a rolling hill in Robinson Memorial Gardens in this upstate town near Greenville. Family and friends traveled from across the state and Southeast to attend the hour-long service. At least one of Mauldin's classmates from the Citadel attended.

A military bugler played taps, and an Air Force honor guard unit from Shaw Air Force Base presented a 21-gun salute.

Two T-6 Texan planes from Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma conducted a fly-over, banking over the service before roaring off into the horizon.

The fly-over brought tears to Mauldin's granddaughter, Mary Catherine Mauldin Hadaway, who grew up hearing stories of his heroics. She's always felt a connection to him because her birthday, Feb. 21, is the same date he was shot down.

It's been an emotionally and physically exhausting week for Corinne Mauldin. She flew to Hawaii last week to escort her father's flag-draped coffin back to South Carolina. She returned to Charleston on Wednesday before heading up to Easley for the service.

She said the service brought her some peace, and she credited the Air Force for helping bring her family needed closure. "They have done an incredible job. They are very dedicated individuals who do not give up."

Todd Rose, who handles mortuary affairs for the Air Force, said that in the last six years his group has helped repatriate the remains of four Korean War veterans, including William Mauldin. "We do everything the law allows to bring them home."

Carol Mauldin Avinger of Anderson is William Mauldin's niece. She cried as she stood before the top of the vault that Mauldin's casket was to be buried in. It was emblazoned with Mauldin's Citadel class photo and one from his first years in the service.

Avinger was 8 when her uncle left for the Korean War, she said. "I remember waving goodbye to him. I wondered if I would ever see him again."

Mauldin's widow, Margot Robinson, remarried after her husband was presumed dead. Her husband, Alfred Robinson, runs the funeral home business in Easley that handled Mauldin's burial.

After Mauldin's death, Margot Robinson had to find a way to carry on with her life and raise two young children. "It was a very tragic day, and it didn't go away. There were thousands of times when I thought about him and wondered what happened."

She felt a sense of relief after Friday's service. "It's like something very heavy lifted off of me. Now, we know where he is."