San Gabriel Valley : COMING HOME

For five years, Vietnam veteran Gale Hulett has worn an MIA bracelet bearing the name of a stranger: Capt. Leo T. Thomas, an Air Force pilot shot down over Laos in 1971.

Last week, Hulett, of West Covina, skimmed the newspaper and spotted a familiar name that left him both happy and teary. According to a news brief, as part of an investigation of Vietnam War crash sites, a U.S. and Laotian military review had found enough remains to be able to identify Thomas. Thomas’ remains are headed home to Georgetown, Ky.

“I was really happy that finally he’s accounted for . . . and finally his family has some remains to bury back home,” said Hulett, 44, a custodian at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra. “They know now for sure he is dead and not missing.”

Hulett served at Da Nang Air Force Base in South Vietnam from December, 1970, to December, 1971. He plans to mail the bracelet to Thomas’ survivors “so the family knows that someone is remembering him besides just the family.”