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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas

DNA milestone may move US to disinter unidentified Pearl Harbor victims

A man dressed in mostly white, with a navy blue ballcap with yellow stitching on it, sits in a wheelchair, as another man in all white with a navy white vaulted cap, and a civilian in a blue shirt, lean forward toward him, the civilian holding a US flag folded into a triangle.
An attendee asks Pearl Harbor survivor Ira ‘Ike’ Schab, 103, to sign a US flag during the 82nd Pearl Harbor remembrance day ceremony on 7 December 2023, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Photograph: Mengshin Lin/AP

The United States government could move to disinter the remains of unidentified USS Arizona crew members who were killed in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 after the clinching of a key DNA-related milestone, officials recently announced.

Before that announcement, officials determined enough family reference samples had been collected for comparison with DNA taken from remains – along with medical and dental records – for the individual identification of at least 60% of the battleship crew members to be disinterred, said a statement on Friday from the agency tasked with identifying US military personnel who are unaccounted for after past conflicts.

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