DNA may help military end era of unknown soldiers

Combat boots stand empty before the altar, a rifle behind each pair.
In the Fort Drum chapel, in upstate New York, families and comrades fill the pews.
The chaplain calls the roll. Memories of missing men respond with a grave, complicated silence.
Barbara Ann Broyles listens to the name of her father, Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith Jr., echo in the chapel.
She was 41⁄2 years old when Faith died east of the Chosin Reservoir in Korea in 1950. The scattered, retreating remnants of his troops left behind his body.

After decades of searching, could a handful of debris provide the answer?

ARLINGTON, Va. — Nearly half a century passed before the suspected remains of six airmen made the journey from a rice paddy in southeastern Laos to a forensics lab near Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Found after 50 years: remains are of missing Judith

A homicide investigation has been launched after human remains found on a NSW property in 2009 were identified as those of Judith Bartlett, who went missing 50 years ago.
Police had been working to identify the remains since they were found on a property at Gooloogong, in central western NSW, in May 2009.

Marine Missing from Vietnam War to be buried with crew

Department of Defense — The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Vietnam War, was recently accounted for and will be buried along with the 12 other servicemen who were lost in the same crash.

16-Year-Old New Jersey Boy’s Remains Identified 40 Years After He Disappeared

A search for unidentified victims of Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy solved a different mystery, halfway across the country in New Jersey

Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient, Finally Resting in American Soil

Lt. Col. Don C. Faith Jr., a World War II and Korean War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., today.

Remains of a 55-year-old man identified in World Trade Center debris on Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Remains of a 55-year-old male 9/11 victim found in World Trade Center debris has been positively identified after a DNA retesting by the city medical examiner’s office.

Korean War MIA Comes Home

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, were recently identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

11 years after, WTC debris still sifted for remains

NEW YORK – Loved ones of the 1,100 people whose remains haven’t been found since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center are watching with interest as more debris from the site is sifted for bone fragments and other human remains.

City Sifts Debris for 9/11 Remains

The New York City medical examiner’s office will resume its search for human remains from the World Trade Center site. The office hopes advances in DNA identification technology may help identify all 2,753 people who died in the 9/11 attack in New York.