Tim Shotwell helped hand off the remains of two Red Chinese soldiers while he served in Korea.
On Friday, the Vancouver veteran got to see that exchange process bring an American soldier home.
Shotwell was one of many local veterans attending the graveside service for Pfc. William Butz, a Vancouver soldier who was killed during the Korean War in November 1950.
While Butz was listed as missing in action for more than 60 years, the U.S. military actually had taken custody of his remains in 1954.
That’s when American military officials and their North Korean counterparts started exchanging remains of soldiers who died on the Korean peninsula between June 1950 and July 1953.
Shotwell was part of the exchange team during his second deployment in South Korea, in 1989-90.
“They gave us (American) bodies, and we returned the favor when we found Chinese and North Koreans. We would do a casket exchange at the border at Panmunjom,” where the armistice was signed.
“I participated in two, both times giving remains back to North Korea. Both, I believe, were Chinese,” said Shotwell.
The border was represented by a strip of concrete, about 18 inches wide and 4 inches high. Six American soldiers carried a wooden casket with the Chinese soldier’s remains up to that concrete strip. Six North Koreans were on the other side.
“They put their hands out, and we would hand off the first set of handles, and continue moving the box across.”
After the transfer, “they turned and walked away and we stood there for a while, did an about face and walked away.
“It was pretty dry. They didn’t make eye contact,” said Shotwell, whose 30-year Army career touched five different decades. “We made a bigger deal of it than they did.”
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