Evening star., 1953-04-20
Joy Comes to 3OFon1iIies
As Names Flash Across u. S.
BY the Asseciated Press

" wv NSSSSI6bS0 EtGSS
A little Spanish speaking
mother in New York who had
prayed for hours at her church
said softly:
MY prayers have been an
Swered, and so soon"
She was happy and thankful
that her son had been freed from
the Communist prison camps
and was coming home from
Korea.
A youthful wife in Hereford,
Tex, almost shouted her joy:
"Oh boy. oh boy, am I happy!"
Her husband was one of the
80 prisoners freed yesterday by
the Reds She was especial
ly happy because her husband
would get to see his 2-year-old
daughter for the first time.
Joy in 30 Homes.
In all the homes of the lucky
80 Americans who were freed
there was happy Thanksgiving.
Some were the humblest; others
In the fashionable suburbs.
But for many there was bitter
disappointment and more. an
guished waiting. Thousands of
relatives and friends of the more
than 1900 prisoners of war in
FED camps had watched televi-
sion programs and listened to
the radio. Their hopes were
daShed-for the time being at
least.
From all over the Nation came
stories of aging, graying moth
ers who took new hope when
they heard their sons had been
released and would come home.
For them the months and years
of waiting had been long and
trying.
Probably the most dramatic of
all was Mrs. 1nocencio Medina,
52-year-old Puerto Rican-born
woman who lives in New York's
Bronx. She went not to her
radio to listen but to her church
to pray that her boy might be
sent home. After hours in pray
er she returned late last night
to find her prayers answered and
a joyful, shouting celebration
in her home. The son, Pfc.
Raymond Medina. 26, enlisted in
Puerto Rico, although he was
born on the mainland. He was
reported a prisoner % months
ago.
The happy wife in Hereford,
Tex, was Mrs. Shirley Neigh
bors, 20, whose husband, Sgt.
Gerald Neighbors. %, was cap
tured in December, 1850. The
daughter he has never seen is
Cynthia Kay, 2.
In Baltimore, Mrs. Pearl Stell,
sister-in-law of Robert Chris
Stell, 21-year-old Negro soldier,
heard the news on a television
neWscast.
Screams at Window.
She ran screaming to the win
dow to shout the news to Rob-
ert's Brother, Bill. %, who was
just coming into the house. Bill
ran three doors up the street
where his and Roberts mother,
Mrs. Lulu Stell, has a second
floor apartment.
Mrs Stell, a small, gray
haired woman in her Cos, was
almost speechless.
I'm very happy. I hope he'll
be sent home soon," was all she
could say.
Robert enlisted in the Army,
ain the medics," his brother
said, in 1948 just after finishing
the ninth grade at Dunbar
School. The family first heard
he was missing in action in Jan
uary, 1851. About a year ago,
they said, his name was listed
by the Communists as a prisoner
of war. That was the last they
heard
Alabama Home SleepleSS.
In Mobile, Ala, there was little
sleeping in the Benjamin LaWley
household last night until the
official word that Sergt. Odie
Lawley, Medicine Park, Okla,
had been freed.
Benjamin Lawley, 76, is the
father of Sergt. Lawley, a veter-
an of Is years Army service.
Sergt. LaWley'S wife and two
children live in Medicine Park.
The news that he was to be
exchanged was the first word his
family had had in over six
months. At one time he was
reported killed in action.
The glad news that Pvt. Louis
A. Pumphrey had been released
was the first news of him re-
ceived by his Cottondale, Ala,
family since he was reported
missing in action last October 7.
Mrs. j. P. Pumphrey, his
mother, said Pvt. Louis personal
belongings had been returned to
the family, but Il didn't have
the heart to open the package"
Now know my prayers have
been answered." she added. II
never believed my boy was dead"
In Clintonville, w. Va, an all
ing retired coal miner made the
1-mile trip to a country tele-
phone today to answer questions
about his young soldier son, just
released. The father is Amos