CONNOQUENESSING TWP — A U.S. Army corporal from Butler who was killed in 1950 in one of the Korean War’s decisive battles against the Chinese is finally coming home.

The family of Cpl. James T. “Tommy” Mainhart has known for decades that he died in 1950, in what has since become known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. But until December, when the U.S. Army came calling with the news that Mainhart’s remains had been positively identified using DNA, the family had little hope they would ever get to lay him to rest in Butler County.

That didn’t stop James’ nephew, Tom Mainhart, from doing everything in his power to make it happen. He had seen the lack of closure weigh on his grandmother, Lydia, through the years. On trips to the cemetery to care for the grave of his grandfather, James “Dewey” Mainhart, she would talk about her hope of one day being able to bring her son’s body home.

Mainhart wrote and called surviving members of his uncle’s unit, the 31st Infantry Regiment. He visited the National Archives in Washington, D.C., looking for clues about his uncle’s service.

The legwork got him “a lot of answers,” about what happened to the 31st in Korea. But it wasn’t until 1999, when Mainhart and his father, Clyde, learned that the Army was using DNA to identify the remains of missing soldiers being repatriated from the country, that hope really began to flicker.

The family decided to send in Clyde’s DNA in the hope that a match would be made. But they would have to wait nearly two more decades — and in 2006 send in Tom’s DNA as well — for news that James’ remains had been found.

That news came in mid-December, Mainhart said, when he got a call from Master Sergeant Douglas Bartow notifying him that the Army had positively identified his uncle’s remains in Hawaii, where they had been flown after being recovered from Korea in 2004.

It was a moment that left Mainhart in disbelief.

“I was dumbfounded,” said Tom Mainhart. “I had to have him repeat it,”

Cpl. James Mainhart was killed on Nov. 30, 1950, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, while serving as a member of the 31st Regimental Combat Team.

The battle at Chosin stretched for 17 days and came amid freezing weather between Nov. 27 and Dec. 13, as about 120,000 Chinese troops encircled 30,000 United Nations troops that included U.S. Army and Marines units, as well as South Korean soldiers. The UN forces were ultimately able to execute a fighting withdrawal, but suffered more than 17,000 casualties.

The victory helped the Chinese achieve recognition as a major military power, but it also cost them dearly, with losses estimated at three times higher than those suffered by the UN forces. And because the UN withdrawal was successful and the Chinese losses so high, the UN was able to maintain a foothold in Korea.

Mainhart’s unit was among those honored for their tenacity during the battle, while guarding the northern hills and inlets of the reservoir. Members of the unit received a Presidential Unit Citation.

Mainhart also was awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and United Nations Service Medal.

His name remains permanently inscribed on the Korean War Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Since December, however, it’s been accompanied by a rosette denoting that his remains have been identified and are being returned home — something James’ brother, Craig Mainhart, said he had stopped hoping for.

“I’m amazed. I had no idea in the world this would ever happen,” said Craig Mainhart, 92, a retired Marine and James’ only surviving sibling.

Craig Mainhart served in World War II in the South Pacific, where he was a member of the Fleet Marine Force — a combination of general and special purpose forces within the U.S. Navy.

“When you’re in a war yourself you see guys come and go, and it’s something you just accept,” he said. “I’d just given up hope of having anything but our old memories.”

Cpl. Mainhart’s remains will be flown from Hawaii to Pittsburgh and accompanied by an honor guard before being transported from Pittsburgh to Butler, where the family plans to hold memorial services on April 8 at Thompson-Miller Funeral Home.

Following the services the family will bury Mainhart at Zion United Methodist Church in Sarver.