ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A Vietnam War widow is encouraging others to never give up hope after her husband's remains were located more than 50 years after he was killed.
Julia Hall Coffey married her husband, Captain Frederick Hall, in 1968.
“[He was] delightful. He was one of my best friends,” Coffey said. She added that he was smooth and calm.
Later that year, he was sent overseas during the Vietnam War. Despite the unrest and uncertainty at home, Coffey said her husband felt a sense of purpose to serve his country.
“He felt like he had done the right thing, being an only child, not having to go and serve and choosing to do so anyway,” Coffey said.
The following Easter, Frederick and Julia sent each other Easter cards, and as it turns out, sent each other the exact same card.
“I still haven’t gotten over it to this day. It is the most amazing…what are the odds that that could happen,” Coffey said.
That was the last communication they shared before he died in Vietnam.
“I opened the door and there were these two perfectly dressed officers. They came into the living room, and we all sat down and talked. I couldn’t begin to tell you what was said,” Coffey said.
After learning of her husband's death, it would take 54 years before his remains were found.
“It’s not short of anything but a miracle of God, that they ever found fragments,” Coffey said.
She was told her husband had strong DNA and that there was no doubt those were his bone fragments.
“So often, people don’t get that concrete affirmation, so that was a good thing from all of this to add to the miracle,” she said.
In October 2023, a funeral was held for Hall in Waynesville, North Carolina. She says the support from Waynesville and the country was unbelievable.
“It was the most amazing thing, how this town came out to lift him up, to honor him. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Coffey said.
Afterward, she took the Blue Ridge Honor Flight with veterans and Gold Star families to D.C. where they visited veteran memorials. The trip, she said, was a spiritual experience.
“It was renewing meeting people of life tragedies,” Coffey said.
On that trip she met Lucy Steppe, whose father’s body has been missing for 51 years.
Coffey told Steppe, “I said, 'You must never give up.'”
Captain John C. Kozuch, a fighter pilot, is Steppe’s father. She says she remembers him as the strong silent type.
“I had a lot of respect for him. He was quiet and when he spoke, you listened,” Steppe said.
She has a lot of his items, including everything from jerseys to report cards, but says one item stands out.
“It kind of looked like a baseball card but it was a card of Jesus. That was very monumental for me. Just knowing he had that connection,” Steppe said.
She left that card for him when she visited D.C. on the Blue Ridge Honor Flight in April. “Just to let him know it was good to know that he believed. Cause I needed to believe he believed,” Steppe said.
She says she has moments where she feels like he’s looking after her. One day, for example, after grabbing snacks at a retreat and walking out of a building, she noticed something.
“As I’m coming out, four fighter jets fly overhead and one flies off, which is the missing man formation.” Steppe said. “That stays with me.”
Steppe was 9 and a half years old when he died. All these years later, she says there is still conflicting information about his death.
Kozuch’s name is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C., but there’s one problem.
“It says his body was recovered, and we don’t have a body,” Steppe said.
She says she’s torn about keeping hope that one day her father will also be found. “I just have to keep that hope in the right place for me,” Steppe said.
Coffey reminds her to never give up hope.
“Who would’ve ever thought, they would’ve found fragments of Fred,” Coffey said.
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