After Barbara Dyer of Chisago City, Minn., died at age 86 in 2019, her family buried her at the Fairview Cemetery in Lindstrom.
Four years later, her family gathered again as Dyer’s brother, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur Ervin Jr., was laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii — even though he died 75 years before his sister at age 22 during World War II on July 5, 1944.
It was a long-awaited service — with full military honors — and Dyer’s family wished she could have lived long enough to witness this patriotic sense of closure.
Instead, Dyer had spent her life wondering if her brother’s remains would ever be found, identified and returned. She died with those questions still unanswered.
“It broke my heart that …” said Dyer’s daughter, Nita Kay Gay (who also goes by Nita Kay), pausing for composure.
“… It was emotional … the question was always lingering in her head … but, the job was done in both Barbara and Arthur’s honor.”
Not forgotten
Until his body was finally identified, Ervin was one of the thousands of military personnel still missing from World War II. Currently, the lost or unidentified totals more than 74,000, according to the the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).
To put that number in perspective, it’s roughly equivalent to the population of Lakeville.
It’s a scale of loss much larger than those missing from other conflicts, including more…
