Clara Gantt Waited 63 Years For Her POW Husband To Come Home From War: He Finally Did

For 63 years, Clara Gantt kept a promise she made to her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt. It wasn’t a promise he wanted her to keep, knowing the dangers of war he was to face after having survived World War II.

As an enlisted man, he knew deployment into the Korean War was not only possible but probable and as such, he urged his wife to remarry should he not return home.

Clara said no. She took the vows, “till death do us part,” and she intended to keep them for the rest of her life. Now 94, Clara Gantt (pictured above) has completed her promise as the remains of her husband, a missing prisoner of war (P.O.W.) since December of 1950, have made it home.

The Los Angeles Times snapped the touching photo you see above that captures what 63 years of grief and longing look like, but that isn’t the full story.

In addition to tears of sadness, Clara Gantt is crying because of how immensely proud she was (and still is) of her husband.

“I am very, very proud of him. He was a wonderful husband, an understanding man. I always did love my husband, we was two of one kind, we loved each other. And that made our marriage complete.”

According to a separate report from KTLA, the Inglewood, California, woman kept a shrine in her home showing her husband’s accomplishments.

As a field medic, Joseph had to see a lot of deeply troubling things. He has since been awarded the Bronze Star with Valor “for his combat leadership actions while defending his unit’s position,” the Times notes, along with a Purple Heart.

Joseph Gantt was reportedly captured by North Korean forces in December of 1950. Long after his death, the military discovered that he’d died in March, 1951 (cause unknown).

Until recently, Clara Gantt was unsure of her husband’s fate, so decade after decade, she continued living her life and making decisions as if it were just the two of them. (They had no children.)

“I bought a home for him. And I am in that home now,” she said, adding that she’d hired a gardener to maintain the exterior so when Joseph finally came home he wouldn’t have to do yard work and could simply “go fishing or do whatever” he wanted to do, the report states.

This Memorial Day, the Inquisitr would like to thank Clara Gantt and her husband Joseph for allowing their story to be told. Do you have a Greatest Generation family member you’re proud of? If so, we’d love to hear about them. Share your stories in the comments section!

[Image via L.A. Times, linked above]