DNA Tech Sets Sail: The Quest to Identify Pearl Harbor's Lost Heroes

The United States military is embarking on a poignant mission to honor fallen heroes of World War II by exhuming the remains of 88 sailors and Marines from the USS Arizona. These servicemen, buried as unknowns in a Honolulu cemetery, perished in the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor over eight decades ago.

Advancements in DNA technology have enabled the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to attempt a feat long deemed impracticable—attaching names to those who remained unidentified since the aerial assault on December 7, 1941. The meticulous process, set to commence in late November or December, will involve removing and analyzing these remains.

The solemn initiative has been bolstered by family members contributing DNA samples, thanks in part to efforts by individuals like Kevin Kline, whose great-uncle was among the unaccounted-for. The agency's previous hesitance to disinter the Arizona unknowns due to inadequate records has been transformed into action, in hopes of bringing solace to families still grappling with generational grief.