Identified After Eight Decades, WWII Prisoner Of War Returns To Tulsa Soil

A World War Two soldier who died as a prisoner of war comes home more than eight decades later.

The remains of Private First Class Lex Lillard were identified earlier this year after he died in a prison camp in 1942.

The skies were clear and sunny when the plane carrying the remains of PFC Lex Lillard landed at Tulsa International Airport. Then, it rained and ended with a double rainbow.

Respect and honor for a World War Two soldier whose remains are home 81 years later.

Richard McQuoid welcomed home his uncle, Private First Class Lex Lillard.

"It really hit me when I walked up to the casket, and I just felt it, like a relief and stuff, like something floating off your shoulders. It felt peaceful,” Richard said.

Lillard was a medic in the Philippines when Japanese forces invaded.

The 20-year-old was among those reported captured when they surrendered to the Japanese in 1942.

He survived the Bataan Death March but died July 19, 1942, from diseases and was buried with other prisoners in a common grave.

His remains were identified in May and will soon be buried with his older sister, Gloria, Richard's mother.

"I bet she's smiling. I got her urn in my computer room, waiting for him to come home, and I tell her every day. I say, 'He's on his way,’” said Richard.

Richard's wife, Mary, said her mother-in-law loved her baby brother.

"She did tell me, though, that when he enlisted, he went and saw her, and he was in his uniform right before he was deployed, and that was the last time she ever saw her brother,” she said.

Richard, a Vietnam veteran and a member of the American Legion, said he's proud to come from a military family and grateful to have his uncle's remains returned.

"I was in the military, too,” said Richard. “I put my brother, my brother passed away two years ago, a Marine. I buried him, and now I'm burying my uncle. They all got to come home, you know."

The funeral and burial service for Lillard will be held on October 7th in Jay.