>>> HE DISAPPEARED IN 1969. TONIGHT THE REMAINS OF A VIETNAM FIGHTER PILOT ARE BACK HOME WITH HIS WIFE AND ADULT CHILDREN. THE BURLINGAME FAMILY HAS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS. >> THE DISAPPEARANCE OF EARNEST DESOTO WAS AN AGONIZING MYSTERY THAT PLAGUED HIS FAMILY. THERE FOR THE EMOTIONAL HOMECOMING IN SAN FRANCISCO. >> THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL FINALLY BACK HOME IN SAN FRANCISCO IN THE BELLY OF THIS UNITED AIRLINES JET. HIS CASKET DRAPED IN A U.S. FLAG ARRIVED 54 YEARS AFTER HE DISAPPEARED IN VIETNAM. HIS ENTIRE FAMILY AND DOZENS OF FRIENDS WERE THERE TO GREET HIM, ENDING A HALF CENTURY OF SEARCHING, AND FIGHTING BACK FEELINGS OF HOPELESSNESS THIS DAY WOULD NEVER COME. HIS WIDOW, NOW 90, WAS HIS SWEETHEART IN HIGH SCHOOL IN SAN FRANCISCO. AND SHE REFUSED TO GIVE UP. >> WE WENT TO NIXON, KENNEDY, AND THEY TOLD US TO GO HOME. WE DIDN'T GO HOME. WE JUST KEPT FIGHTING. >> Reporter: JOYCE AND ERNIE DESOTO WERE MARRIED AND HAD THREE CHILDREN IN THE SPRING OF 1969 WHEN THE FAMILY HEARD THE NEWS THAT ERNIE HAD DISAPPEARED AND RESCUE EFFORTS FAILED. >> WHY? WHY 54 YEARS? WHY COULDN'T THEY HAVE FOUND HIM? I THOUGHT HE WAS TORTURED. I THOUGHT HE WAS A PRISONER. >> Reporter: UNTIL RECENTLY HE WAS ONE OF 81,000 SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE UNACCOUNTED FOR AND MISSING IN ALL U.S. CONFLICTS SINCE THE START OF WORLD WAR II. >> AFTER A WHILE YOU GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE NEVER THINKING YOU'LL GET ANY ANSWERS. WE'RE VERY HAPPY WE HAVE THE ANXIOUSES NOW. >> Reporter: CRAIG WAS ONLY 8 WHEN HIS FATHER WENT MISSING. THEY'LL NEVER FORGET HEARING THE KNOCK AT THE DOOR FOLLOWED BY THE NEWS THAT THEIR DAD'S JET FIGHTER HAD GONE DOWN AND HE WAS MISSING IN ACTION. >> I REMEMBER STANDING BY THE FRONT DOOR. I JUST COLLAPSED AND CRIED. AND I KNEW WHAT IT ALL MEANT. >> Reporter: THANKS TO DNA SCIENCE, THANKS TO THEM, THE REMAINS WERE IDENTIFIED AND BROUGHT TO THE FAMILY. >> I DIDN'T KNOW I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I'M 90. >> Reporter: THEY ALSO LEARNED HE DIED IN HIS AIRCRAFT WHEN IT CRASHED. AND HE DIDN'T SUFFER. NOR WAS HE CAPTURED AND TORTURED. >> THOSE ARE THE ANSWERS. WHERE IS HE? WE WALKED OVER TO THE CASKET. SHE GOES, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? >> Reporter: A SENSE OF CLOSURE FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY AS HE SHALLY'S REMAINS COME HOME AND THEY ALL SHARE AN EMOTIONAL MOMENT TOGETHER. >> IT'S NOT GOODBYE. >> Reporter: THE FAMILY SAID HELLO TODAY. BUT TOMORROW IS ALL ABOUT GOOD-BYES. TOMORROW MORNING, A FUNERAL SERVICE IS PLANNED FOLLOWED BY A BURIAL CEREMONY AT GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL CEMETERY. COMPLETE WITH A MILITARY FLYOVER FIT FOR A RETURNING
