MEDINA — Staff Sgt. Samuel E. Hewitt finally will be laid to rest Friday after being missing in action for more than 40 years.

A plane carrying the Marine’s remains landed in Cleveland on Wednesday after­noon and they were returned to his family — his sister and mother — who are Medina residents.

Hewitt

A service will be 10:30 a.m. Fri­day at Waite & Son Funeral Home, 765 N. Court St., followed by a procession to Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman. Calling hours for Hewitt are tonight from 5 to 7 at the funeral home.

What happened the night Hewitt disappeared on March 22, 1966, remains unknown, but the fact her brother’s remains were found eased a heavy burden, his sister, Paula Banks, said.

“Now that we know, it’s been an answer to prayer,” his mother, Hilda “Marie” Hewitt-Fromherz, said.

Waite & Son director Andrew Waite said the procession likely will leave the funeral home about 11:30 a.m.

The procession will head south and travel to Seville on state Route 3, where it will turn left on Main Street which becomes Seville Road. It will turn right on Rawiga Road to Ohio Western Reserve Ceme­tery, 10175 Rawiga Road.

A committal ceremony for Hewitt will be held at Committal Shelter 1, cemetery Director Gilbert Cody said.

Hewitt’s headstone already will be in place in section 21 of the cemetery. A Marine contin­gent will oversee the ceremony, which will take about 20 min­utes and be concluded with taps and a 21-gun salute, Cody said.

During the procession, Hewitt’s remains will be fol­lowed by at least three POW/MIA motorcycle groups, Waite said.

“It should be a very fitting tribute, and it looks like the weather will hold up for us,” he said.

Hewitt, a native of Koontz Lake, Ind., was 19 years old when he went missing on a night patrol in the Vietnam War along the Demilitarized Zone near Da Nang. He was declared dead on Dec. 1, 1975, though his remains had not been found.

On Oct. 5, his family received a call from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command that Hewitt’s remains had been found during an excavation in early June.

Becky Blackmore, president of Rolling Thunder Ohio Chap­ter 8, said she expects at least a half-dozen POW/MIA motorcy­cle groups to participate in the procession.

She said support from the family’s adopted hometown is important since many of the people who knew Hewitt will not be able to attend the funeral and committal ceremony.

“The basic thought is that everybody deserves a home­coming, no matter how late it might be,” she said. “His class­mates and people he knew growing up might not be there for them, so I’ve tried to encour­age people to come out and show support to the family and to welcome Sam Hewitt home.”

Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@medina-gazette.com.

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