North Korea summit sparks hope to Houston families waiting on MIA soldiers
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston family received an unexpected spark of hope all due to the historic North Korea summit.
Nearly 70 years later, David Velasco still remembers one of the toughest moments of his life.
"It was a horrible day," Velasco said. "My mom screamed and hollered like you wouldn't believe."
His brother, Frank Velasco, was killed in the Korean War.
"The Chinese snuck up behind them," Velasco said. "While they were all there laying there shivering, they came up from behind."
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A second sting came when Frank's mom was told his body wasn't coming home.
"I remember riding with her to the homes of returning veterans," Velasco said. "It was always the same. She would come out crying. They didn't have nothing for her."
But thanks to a handshake and summit, decades of heartbreak might be coming to an end.
North Korea told President Trump it would return MIA remains to the U.S.
"It means I need to reinforce my determination to not give up because it gets harder, and harder to keep going and keep going," Velasco said.
Until the summit, waiting hasn't been easy, it's a pain heard in David's poems.
"To know someday we'll meet again," Velasco's poem reads. "That there is no doubt. But till that day has come for me I must continue on."
It's a mission David's been on since his mother asked him to pray while holding his brother's photo.
It's a homecoming that might finally remove the "M-I-A" from this cemetery slab and give David closure he desperately seeks.
"It would mean the world to me if he came home," Velasco said.
It's a thought made possible due to an improbable meeting.
