COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho -- A local hero was finally laid to rest 72 years after he was killed fighting in World War II.
On Tuesday, dozens of veterans and family members gathered to pay their respects to Sergeant Charles Daman. Daman, who grew up near Plummer, Idaho, was shot down over Germany.
Daman's body was never found, and his family presumed him to be missing. That all changed in 2017, when his relatives learned that researchers had excavated the crash site. Using DNA, they identified a piece of bone that belonged to Sgt. Daman. After months of waiting, he was brought home.
At a Coeur d'Alene cemetery Tuesday, not just family gathered but fellow veterans, too. They were all there to bid farewell to a man who gave it all.
"Leave no man behind has been a motto for many years, and this is the final step of that 'leave no man behind,” said Wayne Syth with VFW Honor Guard,
Daman's nephew, and other relatives, were presented with medals posthumously awarded to the airman. Included among them, the Purple Heart.
"The first thing I did was turn them over to be sure his name was on them. And it was,” Wilber Tanner said.
It took only a moment, but after that, Sgt. Daman was finally laid to rest. His remains atop the gravesite of his parents, the ones who longed for his return the most.
"My grandmother swore that he would come walking in the back door at any given moment, and he would be home. Well, he finally made it home," Tenner said.
A return trip to North Idaho, more than 70 years in the making.