Close
KTAR.com
News
Shows
Blogs
KTAR News on 92.3FM

Families urge using new DNA tech to ID Pearl Harbor unknowns

A grave marker for an unknown casualty from the USS Arizona is shown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Thursday, July 15, 2021 in Honolulu. Advances in DNA technology have allowed the U.S. military to exhume and identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines buried as unknowns from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, decades after the 1941 attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. But the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for locating and identifying missing servicemen and women, says it won't be able to do the same for those from the battleship that lost the most men that day: the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones) A grave marker for an unknown casualty from the USS Arizona is shown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Thursday, July 15, 2021 in Honolulu. Advances in DNA technology have allowed the U.S. military to exhume and identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines buried as unknowns from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, decades after the 1941 attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. But the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for locating and identifying missing servicemen and women, says it won't be able to do the same for those from the battleship that lost the most men that day: the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones) A grave marker for an unknown casualty from the USS Arizona is shown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on Thursday, July 15, 2021 in Honolulu. Advances in DNA technology have allowed the U.S. military to exhume and identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines buried as unknowns from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, decades after the 1941 attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. But the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for locating and identifying missing servicemen and women, says it won't be able to do the same for those from the battleship that lost the most men that day: the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones) U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Darius Banaji, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's deputy director, talks with The Associated Press at Hawaii's Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Thursday, July 15, 2021. Advances in DNA technology have allowed the U.S. military to exhume and identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines buried as unknowns from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, decades after the 1941 attack that launched the U.S. into World War II. But the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is responsible for locating and identifying missing servicemen and women, says it won't be able to do the same for those from the battleship that lost the most men that day: the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones) A piece of the USS Arizona Memorial, given to Teri Mann Whyatt as a child, is displayed at her home Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Newcastle, Wash. Whyatt's uncle, William Edward Mann, died on the USS Arizona during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In recent years, the U.S. military has taken advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines who died in the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and has sent them home to their families across the country for burial. The remains of 85 unknowns from the USS Arizona, which lost more men during the attack than any other ship, haven't received this treatment, however. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Photos of sailor William Edward Mann and a letter written from him and post-marked from the USS Arizona, where he died during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, are displayed at the home of his niece, Teri Mann Whyatt, Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Newcastle, Wash. In recent years, the U.S. military has taken advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines who died in the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and has sent them home to their families across the country for burial. The remains of 85 unknowns from the USS Arizona, which lost more men during the attack than any other ship, haven't received this treatment, however. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Teri Mann Whyatt speaks about her uncle, William Edward Mann, who died on the USS Arizona during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, at her home Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Newcastle, Wash. In recent years, the U.S. military has taken advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines who died in the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and has sent them home to their families across the country for burial. The remains of 85 unknowns from the USS Arizona, which lost more men during the attack than any other ship, haven't received this treatment, however. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Teri Mann Whyatt displays photos of her uncle, William Edward Mann, who died on the USS Arizona during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, at her home Wednesday, July 14, 2021, in Newcastle, Wash. In recent years, the U.S. military has taken advantage of advances in DNA technology to identify the remains of hundreds of sailors and Marines who died in the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and has sent them home to their families across the country for burial. The remains of 85 unknowns from the USS Arizona, which lost more men during the attack than any other ship, haven't received this treatment, however. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)