They thought he was killed in Vietnam.
When Elizabeth Presher Johnson of San Jose, Calif., read a story about homeless veterans featuring former Army Sgt. Larry Presher, the first thing she did was call her sister.
”You`re not going to believe this,” she told Audra Presher of Clarkston, Ga., as she recounted the excitement at learning their cousin may be alive after all. ”I cried. . . . It`s hard to put my feelings into words.”
The sisters plan to travel to Washington soon to meet Presher, who lives in a shelter for the homeless.
Presher, who had run away from home at age 13, also was surprised to discover he may have relatives he never met. He`s also apprehensive.
”My whole goal was to raise the consciousness about homeless veterans,” he said of his part in the article about the rising number of veterans now on the streets.
”Now all this stuff is happening. It`s exciting, but I`m trying not to get too excited.”
Presher says he doesn`t know what this will mean for him. He has lived in the shelter for nearly two years and has few family ties. He admits, however, that finding new family would add to his life.
”That would be nice,” he said. ”That would be real nice. In fact, I already feel like I am (part of a family).”
For years, Johnson and her sister had been working on a family tree and had learned that several family members were killed or missing in action in Vietnam.
”We thought he was one of them we had lost in Vietnam,” said Audra Presher. ”God, I was so surprised.”
After Johnson saw the story and a picture of Larry Presher this week in the San Jose Mercury News, she and her sister started calling shelters in Washington. Johnson`s second call hit pay dirt: Presher himself answered the phone.
”They knew too much. They knew where I was raised,” said a stunned Presher. ”We must be related somehow.”
The sisters shared information with Presher and discovered some things they have in common, including family features and a family tale about a Presher who was hanged for stealing horses.
”It`s been interesting and strange,” Presher said. ”I just hope they don`t get their hopes up too high. How much hope can I have? I`m in a homeless shelter.”
