Missing In Korea

Altoona Mirror - Altoona, PA, USA
Sergeant presumed dead in battle same year his twins were born

By Jay Young, jyoung@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: December 31, 2008

Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Dodson was missing in action in Korea when his twins were born.

His situation in Korea was unclear except that Dodson was lost after a battle Nov. 30, 1950.

An early sign of problems back home came when the military returned letters Virginia Dodson wrote to her husband. Her family hid the returned mail to keep her calm.

A month later, Bonnie and Brady Dodson were born as the family prayed for their father's safe return.

''We didn't know what a dad was,'' Bonnie said. ''Our cousins had a dad, but we didn't have a dad.''

Months passed with no new information. Over the years, the twins and their older brother, Tom, were nurtured by an extended family. The wondering about what really happened didn't end when 55 years ago today the U.S. Government presumed Army Sfc. Dodson was dead. The declaration came two days after the twins' third birthday. His remains were never discovered.

The children were too young to recognize the loss.

Tom was 1 when his father was reported missing. His mom made sure the children knew the Dodson side of the family, and that is where Tom remembers seeing the picture of his father holding him at Fort Benning, Ga. Sfc. Dodson, who was between tours when the picture was taken, was already a veteran of World War II at that point.

He knew his wife was expecting when he left for Korea in 1950, but he would never know of the twins.

There wasn't much discussion about what happened within their family. If there was talk of their father, Bonnie said her mother's Italian family used their native language to protect the children from their own grief.

Today, Sfc. Dodson's children remain interested in seeking closure and remember the care given by that extended family in their youth.

''Uncles would bring stuff by and uncles helped us put an addition onto the house,'' Tom said. ''I never got to the point where I ever was mad at the world about not knowing my dad.''

Virginia (Dinicola) Dodson remarried about seven years after Sfc. Dodson went missing. Bonnie remembers that was when they got a dad.

''I thought some day we'll get one, and we did when we were 7,'' Bonnie said. ''We finally got a dad. We were all excited. We didn't know you were born with a dad.''

It was a happy day. She remembers her confusion as a child at the sight of Sfc. Dodson's sister at the wedding.

''My aunt cried the whole time,'' said Bonnie, recalling her innocent confusion over her aunt's grief.

Time passed and the children learned the complexity of their family's sacrifice, and how far it reached.

Joe Dodson of Hollidaysburg remembers Sfc. Dodson as one of his favorite uncles. He still treasures a letter Sfc. Dodson sent him during his final tour.

''He was like a father figure to me,'' said Dodson, who is the mayor of Hollidaysburg. ''He was someone I looked up to. He was my hero.''

Joe Dodson remembers being 14 years old when his mother called for him. His uncle was missing. The information that followed was slow. There were no remains discovered, so there was a period of hope.

The optimism passed with the time and brought stress and some acceptance even before the military's official word.

Joe Dodson partially attributes the passing of Sfc. Dodson's father to the stress caused by the missing-in-action status.

''My grandfather died in January 1953,'' Joe Dodson said. ''I'm sure that had something to do with his death.''

The years of no information turned into decades, and only recently did Sfc. Dodson's children learn the fate of their ''real dad.'' It came in a letter sent to Bonnie in May 2007. The military says it's actively searching for remains and sought a family DNA sample.

The letter gives great detail with military terminology of a deadly battle in the tundra of North Korea in 1950. Sfc. Dodson's Heavy Mortar Company was part of the task-organized 31st Regimental Combat Team. The team had encountered little enemy contact in the days prior to Nov. 27, 1950. Veterans interviewed by the military later said the team was situated in more of a temporary arrangement rather than one ready for combat.

Everything changed on the evening of Nov. 27, 1950, when a massive Chinese attack lead to fierce fighting that continued for days in the freezing conditions. The Chinese gained ground and the main attack came Nov. 30, 1950. The perimeter was penetrated at numerous locations and only desperate fighting kept the Chinese from completely overrunning the American positions. During the fighting, Sfc. Dodson, 34, was lost.

The Department of the Army said it interviewed survivors from this battle, known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, but no one had information about Sfc. Dodson.

''Additionally, we have found no information indicating he ever appeared at any POW camp, holding area or medical facility or that he was ever alive in enemy hands.''

-- 'We moved forward' --

Bonnie is married, still lives in the Altoona area, has two grown sons and works for Verizon. Brady lives in the Scotch Valley section of Frankstown Township with his wife and son. Tom recently retired after 28 years in the food business for an independent wholesaler. He lives in Greensburg with his wife. They have two children.

Their second father, Frank Roberts, died in 1984. Virginia Dodson died in 2004.

The Dodson family remains hopeful that time will bring more answers and ultimately closure. Tom said he may spend the extra time he has in retirement learning more about the history surrounding his father's death and ultimately what took his dad's life.

Looking back, though, things turned out all right.

''I thank the Lord that my other father came into place,'' Tom said. ''He was very good to us. He provided us with a living. We were like any other normal family. Dad provided for us.''

Mirror Staff Writer Jay Young is at 946-7535.