FOUKE, Ark. - While Memorial Day is usually set aside to honor those who lost their lives to protect us and our country, there are many American military servicemen and women still unaccounted for.
One of those servicemen is U.S. Army Chief Master Sgt. Paul J. Browning of Texarkana, Arkansas, who's been classified as Missing In Action since early 1953.
Born the youngest in a family of eight children on July 6, 1922, Browning lived and worked on a farm between Fouke and Garland City before he joined the Army in 1941 or 1942 and served in Europe during World War II.
Following the war, Browning came back home to work in a local defense plant and got married, according to historic research conducted by Frank McFerrin, a longtime resident historian for Fouke, Ark.
Browning would eventually be recalled back into military service for deployment to Korea in 1952 - and ironically he would be reported as MIA in combat action that would eventually earn him the Bronze Star.
Besides Browning, about 12 other men he was leading that day would also be classified as MIA, according to McFerrin's research.
McFerrin said Browning and the group he was leading were out on patrol to scout out enemy mortar shell fire positions and relay the information back to U.S. Army artillery positions in order to target the enemy.
Browning's Bronze Star citation would state that he and his unit had to advance through enemy mortar shell fire as well as both automatic and small arms enemy fire in order to notify and help redirect the U.S. artillery fire on enemy position
Browning and the rest of his squad achieved their mission with dazzling results, but none them could be found after their successful spy operation.
Browning has a nephew named John Browning who still lives in Miller County.
"I was about 11 years old when my uncle went missing," Browning said. "My uncle is my hero and I love to talk about him every chance I get."