Unknown no longer: DNA is the crucial key to identifying the remains of American MIAs from past wars. And the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory is using that key to unlock the mystery of their fates

VFW Magazine, Sept, 2002 by Gary Turbak

On Dec. 11, 1944, 1st Lt. Henry Lewis piloted a B-24 on a bombing run over Germany, then headed back to his squadron's base in England. Over France, the bomber collided with another plane and nose-dived into the woods, killing Lewis and his crew of eight. The government notified the families of the apparent deaths, but with the war raging and the crash area occupied by German troops, no attempt was made to recover the bodies. Until recently.

In 1999, relic hunters discovered the wreckage, which contained multiple sets of human remains. Using DNA samples, U.S. investigators eventually identified eight of the nine airmen. On Aug. 25, 2001, Lt. Lewis was finally laid to rest in his hometown cemetery at Centreville, Md.--57 years after he gave his life for his country.

It happens in every war--and even when there is no war: An American in uniform is killed, but the remains are lost or cannot be identified. The grieving family gets no closure, and the deceased veteran has no proper burial. But thanks to new DNA technology, this great sadness may soon become a thing of the past. "Our ultimate goal is to never again have an unknown deceased American service member," says Jim Canik, deputy director of the Defense Department's DNA registry.

`Cellular Dog Tag'

Each human carries around a cellular dog tag called nuclear DNA, genetic material inherited in equal shares from a person's mother and father at the moment of conception. It is unique to each individual and a sure-fire identifier. Civilian authorities use nuclear DNA to convict criminals, and military investigators use it to identify current battlefield and accident victims. Usually, this is done by comparing a known sample of the victim's DNA to DNA taken from the bodily remains. But first there must be a sample on file.

In 1990, with war in the Persian Gulf imminent and U.S. forces expecting many casualties, American military leaders launched a major DNA collection project. Although the United States suffered relatively few casualties in the Gulf War, the Defense Department forged ahead with the creation of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) and the Armed Forces Repository of Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains (both located in Maryland).

The goal of these and affiliated organizations is to attach a name to every fallen soldier, sailor, airman and Marine. "Identification is extremely important to the families," Canik says. "We're here to help bring the closure."

The first step was to create a database containing the DNA of all members of the military, active and reserve. Vacuum-sealed with a drying agent, these 3.6 million blood samples are now stored at -20 C (-4 degrees Fahrenheit), ready to be matched to DNA for a soldier killed in battle, accident or terrorism attack.

An identification cannot be made, however, solely by comparing DNA from human remains to millions of stored samples. Instead, investigators must first use medical x-rays, dental records, personal affects and anthropological information to narrow the possibilities. With a short list of potential victims in hand, authorities then turn to DNA to confirm the identification.

AFDIL has used these stored DNA samples to identify casualties in Afghanistan as well as the uniformed victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Thanks to DNA testing, all victims at the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania aircraft crash site were identified. Without DNA, perhaps only half might have been.

But giving names to current casualties is easy compared to the task of identifying the thousands of GIs who died anonymously in past conflicts. Incredibly, more than 88,000 Americans who died in World War II, the Cold War, Korea and Vietnam have yet to be located and identified. But military sleuths are tackling this problem, too, albeit with a different DNA weapon.

Nuclear DNA is usually not much help in identifying older remains. For one thing, a sample of the MIA's own DNA is almost never available. In addition, no human cell contains more than two copies of its nuclear DNA, and this limited amount of genetic material often gets lost, especially if the remains are severely fragmented, very old or otherwise degraded--all common wartime conditions.

Mitochondrial DNA

Fortunately, another kind of DNA--called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)--is of great help in identifying older remains. This material is extremely abundant, with most bodily cells containing thousands of copies. With so much more mtDNA available, some of it almost always survives, no matter how old or degraded the remains (teeth and bones can be good sources). Scientists have even extracted mtDNA from a 100,000-year-old cave man.

Unlike nuclear DNA, mtDNA is not unique to the individual in question. For starters, only a few hundred thousand different variations of mtDNA exist among the world's billions of people. In addition, mtDNA comes solely from a person's mother, and it is shared by all maternal relatives, which means that siblings as well as maternal aunts, uncles, and cousins have identical mtDNA. Consequently, mtDNA is not a precise identifier and would be worthless in a criminal case. But this apparent shortcoming also is mtDNA's greatest asset.