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Missing Concord Soldier Finally Returns From Vietnam

http://66.225.205.104/JR20110429a.mp3

A soldier missing for more than 40 years comes home tomorrow. Hundreds of motorcycle riders, a police escort and military fly-over will accompany the body of Sgt. 1st Class Donnie Shue to a ceremony in downtown Concord at 11 a.m. Donnie Shue went missing on November 3, 1969 on a secret mission during the Vietnam War. For ten years, his family back home in Concord would hold out hope that the 20 year old Green Beret was alive. In 1979, the military changed Sergeant 1st Class Shue's status from "missing in action" to "killed in action," and held a ceremony in Fayetteville. Peggy Hinson says she and her twin sister Nancy just couldn't fathom their baby brother was dead. "Me and Nancy didn't even go down there when they declared him dead," says Hinson. "I said, 'I'm not going down there, I don't believe he's dead!'" Since then, a plaque has marked the empty grave of Sgt. Shue at Carolina Memorial Park in Kannapolis. In 2009, his remains were finally found in Vietnam. Tomorrow, Shue will arrive in Charlotte on a flight from Pearl Harbor. A brigade of about 1,000 motorcycles from Rolling Thunder will escort Shue to downtown Concord where his family will receive a key to the city. Hundreds of residents are expected to line the streets in his honor. Many of them will remember the commemorative bracelets sold around town in the 70s to keep alive the memory of a young man who loved drag racing and dancing. Sgt. 1st Class Donnie Shue was so eager to join the Army, he dropped out of A.L. Brown High School in 11th grade. Details about the procession in Shue's honor on Saturday, April 30 The convoy will travel through Charlotte on I-85 north to I-485, and then take exit 33 onto NC Highway 49 North. From that point, the procession will: * Travel through Harrisburg on Highway 49 North * Exit onto Warren C. Coleman Boulevard * Bear right onto Union Street S * Stop in front of City Hall for the ceremony at 11 a.m. * After the ceremony, proceed to the end of Union Street N and turn right onto Buffalo Avenue * Turn Left onto Church Street N * Turn right onto Brookwood Avenue NE * Turn Left onto Branchview Drive NE * Continue onto Lake Concord Drive NE and into Kannapolis More information here.