WASHINGTON (TNND) — The U.S. military is planning to exhume and identify 88 crew members from the USS Arizona who were buried as “unknowns” following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The remains are currently interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
The exhumations are scheduled for November or December, Kelly McKeague, the director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said in a statement on Thursday.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 07: Participants join a prayer during a Pearl Harbor 80th Anniversary Commemoration at the World War II Memorial December 7, 2021 in Washington, DC. Today marks the 80th anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, which led to the United States formally entering World War II. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency say the exhumations will take place in small groups and be sent to forensic labs for testing using modern DNA techniques. At the time of the attack, many remains were too damaged to identify, and forensic technology was limited, leaving these service members without confirmed identities.
Today, forensic scientists use certain DNA, which passes down maternal lines, alongside forensic anthropology and comparisons to living relatives, to identify long-lost service members. This process has already helped identify hundreds of WWII personnel previously listed as unknowns.
BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT
For families, these identifications could provide long-awaited answers about what happened to their loved ones. Once confirmed, families can choose to rebury them with full military honors or return them to their hometowns, marking the first time many of these crew members will have graves with their names.
National Headline
