The Pentagon Could Name Thousands of Unknown Soldiers. Families Want to Know Why It Hasn’t.
The Pentagon is facing pressure to identify thousands of unknown soldiers buried in military cemeteries, particularly those from World War II. Families, like that of Jim Knudsen, are advocating for the use of modern DNA technology to uncover the identities of their loved ones. However, bureaucratic challenges and a slow pace of disinterments mean that many families may wait decades for closure.
- ▪Approximately 2,900 American service members are buried as 'unknowns' in the Manila American Cemetery.
- ▪The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency estimates that over 80,000 U.S. service members remain unaccounted for since World War II.
- ▪Modern DNA science has the potential to identify many of the unknowns, but the current pace of disinterments could take over three decades.
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Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on BlueskyEmailComments Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter. Buried beneath the curved, sweeping rows of white marble crosses and Stars of David at the Manila American Cemetery lies a special kind of American hero. Their headstones carry no names. No ranks or branches of the military. No dates of death.
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