U.S. Navy Cmdr. Paul Charvet had been missing in action since March 21, 1967, when his A-1H Skyraider was last sighted near Hon Me Island in Vietnam. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
(Tribune News Service) — Dozens of motorcycles rolled through the small city of Mabton, Wash., just before 1 p.m. on Friday. They wound their way up Vance Road to the Mabton Cemetery, where personnel from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Prosser Veterans of Foreign Wars and Yakama Warriors Association stood at attention amidst the headstones and green grass.
The motorcyclists were accompanying the family members of a Vietnam War veteran, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Paul Charvet, for his burial. More than 50 years since he went missing in action in North Vietnam, his remains had been recovered, returned home and laid to rest beside his mother and father.
Charvet’s family was joined at the cemetery by friends, veterans, community members and city officials.
Several veterans spoke, honoring Charvet’s service. Personnel from the Navy presented his burial flag and a rifle detail saluted the fallen service member while a rendition of “Taps” echoed over the nearby hop fields and green-flecked hills and into the cloud-speckled sky.
As naval service members folded the burial flag, an older U.S. military plane flew overhead.
“To me, it’s closure,” said Lorraine Charvet, one of Paul’s younger sisters.
Lorraine Charvet and Dona Re Shute, the youngest sister in the family, both attended the ceremony and were given their brother’s burial flag. Their brother had been missing in action since March 21, 1967, when his A-1H Skyraider was last sighted near Hon Me Island in Vietnam.
In 2022, federal officials confirmed that remains they had found were Charvet’s and returned them to the family.
“We were waiting, we kept waiting,” Lorraine Charvet said. “Then, out of the blue, 54 years late. I mean, what? Paul’s coming home?”
Shute said it was special to be able to share the memorial service — which had happened earlier Friday in Grandview — and the burial with friends and family.
“Each has one little interaction with Paul that’s just their own,” she said.
Shute and Lorraine Charvet grew up on a hop farm with their brother. They recalled being voracious readers and spending long days outside, biking around the Yakima Valley and playing baseball in cattle pastures.
Their brother was always the pitcher, they said. He had loved sports, the Navy and flying.
“He just flew that old World War II plane,” Lorraine Charvet said.
“The Skyraider,” Shute continued. “He loved that plane.”
Paul Charvet had served three tours in Vietnam. His sisters remembered visiting him in Alameda, California, when he returned to the U.S. between tours. Shute recalled hearing stories of his time in the military.
Lorraine Charvet said those tours could be difficult for his family.
“He was married. He went for nine months three times,” she said. “I know other men did it, but it was hard.”
Paul Charvet went missing on the last day of his third tour in the country. His sisters said he had volunteered for the assignment.
One of the naval service members who attended the ceremony was Rear Adm. Terry Eddinger of the U.S. Naval Chaplain Corps. Eddinger thanked the crowd and then honored Paul Charvet’s sacrifice and its importance to his country.
Lorraine Charvet and Shute thanked the Navy for the attention they had shown to Paul Charvet and to the family while he had been missing in action. The sisters said they had received updates on the search throughout the years.
Much of the family has moved across the country, Shute said, but many had returned to the Yakima Valley for the service. Paul Charvet’s ashes will be buried in Mabton Cemetery near his parents.
“It’s wonderful to share it with my sister ... with all our cousins, with our children,” hute said. “To have mom and dad and Paul just right there.”
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