CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Fifty-seven years after serving in the Vietnam War, Boston native Michael Cunningham has never forgotten his brother in combat, Staff Sergeant Jerry Auxier, of Dixie, West Virginia. They shared the same company but served in different platoons. On one fateful evening, a U.S. helicopter bringing supplies to the company was planted with a 500-pound explosive that detonated right as the aircraft landed. Three men from the company died, while a dozen more were injured.  However, Staff Sergeant Auxier was missing reported missing and has been for 56 years—a reality Cunningham has carried with him ever since that night. SSG Jerry Auxier (Courtesy DPAA) “He's been missing for 56 years, I've had 56 years of life since he's been dead,” said Cunningham in an interview with 12 News. Although Cunningham and Auxier weren't that close while serving our country, they were bonded for life by their experience through the war, which led Cunningham to go back to Vietnam 49 years later and search for his comrade's remains. Weston bridge to be named after Vietnam POW MIA "We knew our fate was not in our own hands, you know whatever happened—if we get killed over there, we always made a promise to each other, 'don't leave me behind. Make sure you get me home.' and you know, we did not do that for Jerry. We broke our promise,” said Cunningham. In his effort to make good on that promise, Cunningham found countless roadblocks in trying to return to Vietnam, and after reaching out to different legislatures and organizations for years, he was invited by the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to serve as an eyewitness alongside a research investigation team. A look out at Vietnam (Courtesy Michael Cunningham) Michael Cunningham next to the foxhole he dove in when the explosive went off in 1968 (Courtesy Michael Cunningham) Even after all the time that had come and passed, Cunningham was able to lead the team back to the area where the bomb was deployed on his company in 1968, even finding the exact foxhole he hid in. While he was at the location—and to his surprise—Cunningham met the man who deployed that bomb on his company. He says this chance meeting ended in a handshake, the exchanging of condolences, and an expressed understanding of one another's position. "We all hated to be in Vietnam, we all hated it. We knew it was wrong, we knew it was stupid, but we were fighting just for each other and to try to help each other to stay alive,” said Cunningham. Cunningham next to the man who deployed the explosive on his company in 1968. (Courtesy Michael Cunningham) Cunningham said the experience was cathartic for him, as he felt he was finally serving a purpose he had set to do for decades, but frustration followed suit when Auxier's remains were not found. Despite this, he hasn't lost hope. "I'm 75 years old now, but I'll still go back, I'll still go back up on that hill. I'll give my life to go back up on that hill to find his remains,” said Cunningham. WWII pilot Jay Manown laid to rest 80 years later Cunningham said that the biggest hindrance was that the team couldn't excavate more than 3 inches deep into the land, leaving few in the search. Cunningham also admitted that greater efforts could have been made on the DPAA's part to find Auxier. Resources are still available, but he says the right team and vigor are what’s needed to complete the task and bring Auxier home. "If it was some senator's son or loved one, believe me, all doors would be opened. But just because it's Jerry from Dixie, West Virginia—you know, no one has put in any pressure,” said Cunningham. Cunningham has kept Auxier's legacy alive by speaking about him and sharing his story at veterans events, during UMass Boston classes that Cunningham teaches on Vietnam, through a magazine article, and through a novel Cunningham published titled ‘Walking Point, an Infantryman's Untold Story’. One day, Cunningham says he hopes to travel to Dixie to give Auxier's surviving family members items like soil and an American flag he gathered from his trip to Vietnam. Cunningham, his research team and Vietnam citizens holding the American flag at the site of the bomb's deployment. (Courtesy Michael Cunningham) "I would not send one more person, one more American to combat until we have a full accounting to our guys who we lost, you know, that we could find. We can find Jerry's remains, we can." Until that day, he will continue advocating for Jerry and others like him.