Remains of MIA Army Cpl. Fuller will be returned home, Aug. 9
Toccoa native Army Cpl. Terrell J. Fuller will soon be home for good.
His great-niece, Amy Hix, said Fuller’s remains are expected to return home, Thursday.
“He will be flying into Atlanta on August 9th,” Hix said. “That’s when the Patriot Guard and roadside welcome will take place. Then, on August 10th is the visitation at the funeral home. That will be from 4p to 7p at Acree-Davis. And the private burial ceremony will take place on August 11th at 11a.m.”
The Patriot Guard will be escorting Fuller and his family to Toccoa from the Atlanta Hartsville Jackson Airport.
According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley, Troopers with the Georgia State Patrol, his Deputies, Toccoa Police Chief Jimmy Mize, are all assisting with the escort to bring Fuller home.
The processional will take Interstate 85 North to State Route 365. At the Jeanette Jamieson Intersection of SR-365 and Highway 123 the escort will turn left onto Highway 123. From there the procession will make a pass through historic downtown Toccoa by taking a left on Broad Street, a right on Doyle Street, and a right onto Pond Street, ending at Acree-Davis Funeral Home at 90 South Pond Street.
Shirley adds that Doyle Street will be closed off to everyone and the procession will pass through downtown Toccoa; dozens of citizens are expected to gather and line the road welcoming Fuller home.
The procession is anticipated to arrive in Toccoa around 9:30 a.m.
On Friday, Aug. 10, visitation will be held at Acree Davis Funeral Home from 4 to 7 p.m.
Visitation is open to all family members and citizens to pay their respects.
Fuller will be laid to rest on his 88th birthday in Stephens Memorial Gardens, during a private burial service, closed to the public.
Corporal Fuller was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on Feb. 12, 1951, and on Feb. 18, 1954, he was presumed dead.
Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Cpl. Terrell J. Fuller were accounted for this year and his family notified.
Hix says the notice that her great-uncle’s remains were found and identified was a shock, but also ended years of wondering for the family.
“It’s closure. 67 years is a long time to not know where your family member is,” she said.
Corporal Fuller was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
His name is permanently inscribed in the ‘Courts of the Missing’ at the Honolulu Memorial where the Department of Defense has placed a rosette indicating his remains have been found.