DNA analysis could be used to identify some 6,000 unaccounted American soldiers


The Department of Defense is considering switching tactics to identify the roughly 6,000 American soldiers from World War II still unaccounted for.

The department appears to be interested in deploying DNA analysis, which is seen as being more reliable than traditional methods, but in the opposite direction of the way it is currently used.

Currently, they try to find relatives of the unaccounted for soldiers and match DNA from the relatives to the soldiers, only to discover many of those soldiers didn’t have children or known relatives.

But they could try to do a similar process in reverse, taking DNA from soldiers’ graves and inputting it into various databases in search of relatives.

The public databases can then be used to sift through family trees while connecting the dots towards one person: the unknown soldier. 

Pictured: The Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in England, where thousands of American World War II victims are buried, including some who remain unknown

Pictured: The Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in England, where thousands of American World War II victims are buried, including some who remain unknown

Pictured: Utah Beach, one of the sectors of the D-Day invasion that shaped World War II

Pictured: Utah Beach, one of the sectors of the D-Day invasion that shaped World War II

The Department of Defense hopes to start using that tactic in the near future. 

Investigators have been using that strategy successfully for years when looking at crimes, with the identification of the Golden State Killer being the most famous instance.

It has become slightly more challenging in recent years, however, as DNA databases review their privacy policies and give users more agency in regards to allowing investigators and other parties to utilize their DNA.

The Army has been reticent in the past to use DNA, typically only utilizing the identifier at the end of their identification probes to make confirmations.

Instead, they utilized dental charts, bone measurements, and battle reports to identify soldiers, traditional tactics growing increasingly outdated in the face of modern technology.

One complication to changing the approach is a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency rule that prevents bodies from being exhumed if there’s less than a 50 percent change of making an identification.

According to the New York Times, the budget for the current process is $150 million but results in less than 200 identifications a year, meaning the odds are heavily stacked against success.

Pictured: The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which has more unknown burials

Pictured: The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, which has more unknown burials

The agency can eliminate the rule and exhume every buried body to acquire DNA, though there are ethical dilemmas inherent in that move.

For instance, the privacy of living people could be violated, as DNA traces could uncover family secrets such as infidelity.

‘Switching to DNA-first will be faster, cheaper and produce better results,’ argued Ed Huffine, who previously led testing for the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab.

‘Our goal is to do no more harm than has already been done,’ Dr. McMahon, the Army DNA identification expert, counters.

A new DNA process could also hopefully come in handy when identifying black soldiers, who are harder to trace through history via official records due to the legacies of slavery and discrimination.

The Army has struggled to identify 53 soldiers who are buried in Italy after fighting in the 92nd Infantry Division in World War II.

‘African-Americans, even if they have been in a community for hundreds of years, are just absent from the record,’ said genealogist Megan Smolenyak.

One case explored by the New York Times showcases just how much the Army needs a new identification process. 

A man believed to be Private Melton Futch was found after the war with an address book and letter from his wife.

But the Army couldn’t find a relative for him, meaning they couldn’t justify exhuming his body for a DNA sample.

Additionally, dental records for Futch didn’t match the teeth and the measurement of the bones created more confusion, leaving the bones buried without a positive identification to this day.

Any potential DNA usage changes come with tricky ethical dilemmas, though (stock)

Any potential DNA usage changes come with tricky ethical dilemmas, though (stock)

Meanwhile, the agency in charge of making the identifications continues with their work.

Several weeks ago, Alfred Turgeon, who was lost when his plane was shot down over Romania in 1943, had his remains identified by the POW/MIA Accounting Agency 78 years later.

Turgeon’s nephew, David Bass, provided his DNA sample to the agency years ago, which used that sample, as well as that of two others, to make the identification, according to Bass.

‘It’s a great closure for us as a family,’ Bass said to the Anchorage Daily News. 

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