Colonel Barras' remains were recovered and repatriated to US soil on 08 June 1991.
Positive identification was made on 18 November 1998.
He was buried at West Point Cemetery with full military honors on 30 April 1999.

The following is Greg Barras' Eulogy, read at his graveside services at West Point.

Gregory Inman Barras was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on 13 October 1932, the son of Joseph and Bessie Virginia Inman Barras. Greg graduated from Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Georgia, and attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and Virginia Military Institute before entering West Point on 3 July 1951. He was appointed to the Academy by Senator John Stennis of Mississippi.

A true son of the South, Greg never did get completely used to West Point's winters. Plebe year presented extra challenges. He began by breaking a leg in wrestling class and spending a few weeks in the hospital. Greg was basically a non-nonsense person; he just went about the business of being a good cadet. His previous military schooling stood him in good stead. He knew how to wear a uniform and look like a soldier. One of his classmates remembers him thus: "He seemed to stand a little straighter and a little taller than the rest of us. He seemed to wear his hat a little different, yet the rules allowed little difference. He seemed to add something to the cadet uniform -- military bearing. He had a flashing smile and a twinkle in his eyes that seemed to contrast with, but complement, his military bearing." Greg was appointed cadet first sergeant of Company B-1 for his final year at West Point.

His initials -- G.I. -- fit him well. He set high standards for himself and may have been a stern taskmaster with underclassmen. He was nonetheless a warm and caring human being and a good friend to his classmates.

On graduating in 1955, Greg fulfilled a boyhood ambition and entered the Air Force. He met Mary Lu Urban at Laredo, Texas, where he was flying F-100s at Foster AFB. They were married on 2 March 1957, at Laredo. Soon afterward Greg was transferred to Amarillo, Texas, for supply school, and thence to Carswell AFB near Fort Worth. There he was assigned as a supply officer. He claimed that although he joined the Air Force to fly, he learned much and drew great satisfaction from that assignment.

He was then assigned as co-pilot of a B-52 crew, and moved to Walker AFB at Roswell, New Mexico, where Greg became an aircraft commander. Their daughter, Ryan Elisabeth, was born at Fort Worth on 15 August 1958. Their adopted son Richard was born 8 April 1965, in New Mexico. After moving to Troy, New York, Greg earned a master's degree in management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1967.

Their next stop was Hurlburt Field at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where Greg received flight training in A-1Es. After that came a move to Shreveport, Louisiana, for a few months while Greg ferried planes from the Naval rework facility in Rhode Island to California. He chafed at being left behind when his group from Hurlburt went overseas. He remember as he himself was leaving for Vietnam in February 1968 that if he had gone with them he would be close to finishing his Vietnam tour. Mary Lu and the children stayed in Laredo with her parents when Greg left for Vietnam. As he left, he asked the children not to forget him.

Some months later he returned from a mission with a big hole behind his cockpit, unaware that his plane had been hit. He then wrote letters to Mary Lu and each of the children, and sent them to her father, to be delivered if Greg did not return. Greg and Mary Lu were able to spend two weeks together in Hawaii in August 1968, just four months before his plane was shot down.

On 18 December 1968, Major Greg Barras was flying an A-1H on a combat mission to attack North Vietnamese troops along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. About twenty miles west of Mu Gia Pass, his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. It was not known at the time whether he had been able to bail out and somehow survive. He was declared Missing in Action. He was carried on the active rolls as MIA until 17 April 1979 when he was pronounced "missing and presumed dead." By then he had been promoted to the rank of colonel.

In 1991, his remains were recovered and returned to American custody, although still unidentified. It was December of 1998 before positive identification was made through comparison of his DNA with that of a relative.

Greg was buried at West Point Cemetery with full military honors on 30 April 1999. The USMA Band played Army Blue and the Alma Mater. The Honor Guard fired the traditional 21 rifle salute. The bugler played Taps. The Air Force did their time-honored Missing Man maneuver. His family and six classmates were on hand for the final farewell. Three of the classmates were from Company B-1, and they rendered proud salutes in tribute to their fallen friend.

Greg Barras was the last man on earth to claim to be a hero, but a hero he most assuredly was. Citing the familiar lyrics to the song "Benny Havens, Oh!", Greg finally found his "soldier's resting place" some thirty years after being struck by a "soldier's blow." Be thou at peace, good friend.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF COLONEL GREGORY INMAN BARRAS Jackson, Mississippi April 17, 1979 SERVICES AT Graveside United States Military Academy West Point, NY Friday, April 30, 1999 1:30 PM OFFICIATING Chaplain Robert Helton INTERMENT Post Cemetery West Point, NY	Greg Barras' grave at West Point Cemetery
The Twenty-Third Psalm The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. He Maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oils, My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
BENNY HAVENS, OH! (old West Point song) Come fill your glasses fellows, And stand up in a row. To singing sentimentally We're going for to go. In the Army there's sobriety, Promotion's very slow, So we'll sing our reminiscences Of Benny Havens, Oh! Oh, Benny Havens, Oh! Oh, Benny Havens, Oh! We'll sing our reminiscences Of Benny Havens, Oh! May the Army be augmented, Promotion be less slow. May our Country in the hour of need Be ready for the foe. May we find a soldier's resting place Beneath a soldier's blow. With room enough beside our grave For Benny Havens, Oh! Oh, Benny Havens, Oh! Oh, Benny Havens, Oh! We'll sing our reminiscences Of Benny Havens, Oh!

To view the USMA (West Point) page for Greg Barras, class of 1955, click here.

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