By Snejana Farberov PUBLISHED: 19:07 EST, 20 November 2013 | UPDATED: 13:44 EST, 21 November 2013 Detainee: Merrill Newman, 85, was pulled off a flight back to the U.S. October 26 following 10-day guided tour in North Korea The family of an 85-year-old Korean War veteran from California who is detained in North Korea are fighting to get the beloved grandfather home by Thanksgiving. Merrill Newman, of Palo Alto, traveled to North Korea with a friend as part of a tour group based out of Beijing, China. But, as he was about to fly back to the U.S. on October 26, a uniformed North Korean officer came on the plane, asked to see his passport, and then requested he be removed from the flight, his son, Jeffrey Newman, said Wednesday.
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Merrill Newman, 85, was pulled off a flight back to U.S. on October 26 following a 9-day guided tour
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Newman, a retired finance executive for technology companies, lives in Palo Alto, California, with his wife, Lee
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State Department did not confirm Newman's detention but issued a revised travel warning for North Korea
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U.S. has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and has to rely on the Swedish Embassy for help when Americans find themselves in trouble
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Newman is the sixth American to be detained in North Korea since 2009
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Kenneth Bae, Korean-American and Christian missionary, was detained last year and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor
Mr Newman said he believed the desire for the trip came from the three years his father spent as an infantry officer in the @placeholder, but he said Merrill Newman never talked about his service.