In Memory of Pfc First Class Thurman Coker

May 25, 2011\

By AMBER POMPA

Greenville, Texas Herald-Banner Staff

GREENVILLE —The remains of Private First Class Floyd Thurman Coker are finally returning home
after some 60 years. Coker, who grew up in the Quinlan area, died a prisoner of war at the Suan Bean Camp in North Korea at the age of 25. He will arrive at the DFW Airport Friday morning and will be escorted to Paris, Texas by the Patriot Guard Riders.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Bright-Holland Funeral Home in Paris. Burial, with full
military honors will follow in Knights of Honor Cemetery.

Coker joined the U.S. Army in 1944. He served at the end of World War II and during the Korean Conflict when he was captured and became a POW Feb. 12, 1951. He died at the camp April 15, 1951.

The family had received reports from other POWs who has been captured and held at the camp who
claimed to have been present when Coker passed, but it wasn’t until 1954 that the military contacted
Ellen Coker to inform her that her son had passed away.

Coker spent nearly 40 years in a mass grave overseas until North Korea released approximately 208
crates containing the remains of more than 400 soldiers.

Through DNA testing, the military identified Coker’s remains in five different crates.

“It definitely gives us a sense of closure,” said Linda Harris about her uncle’s return. “We’re so thankful to the military because they didn’t give up. They could have, but they didn’t. They kept searching until they located them and I think that’s something they should be commended for.”