It was supposed to be a pretty normal Wednesday morning.  School had ended the day before, and I was ready to move into a bit of a slower pace.  Then I received this text from my brother, Greg:

Call me when you get a chance.

I just got off the phone with the department of the army.

They found Bud.

At the end of June 2017, the Byrnes family learned that the remains of our brother, uncle, and cousin, 2nd Lieutenant Patrick J. Byrnes, Jr. (Bud), had been found.  That fact alone is not astounding unless you also know that he was lost on August 31, 1943.  Seventy-four years after his death in New Guinea, the Army has confirmed through DNA that they can return him home.

The purpose of this blog is to gather stories, pictures, artifacts and a timeline of the events around this amazing discovery.  I also hope to honor those civilians and members of the military who do the amazing work of returning remains to military families – who never let these brave soldiers become forgotten, who cherish their lives and who value their stories.

There’s lots to share and I will begin to update this blog with what I know so far.  I hope you’ll share what you know of this story as well, including pictures that you may have.  We, his nieces and nephews, never got to meet him, but we are so blessed to be a part of his story!