Military Labs Do Detective Work to Identify Soldiers Decades After They Died in World War II

Military Labs Do Detective Work to Identify Soldiers Decades After They Died in World War II
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency forensic anthropologist Carrie Brown looks at objects in a lab at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Neb., on May 20, 2024. Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo
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OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb.—Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II and other conflicts.

But a federal lab tucked away above the bowling alley at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha and a sister lab in Hawaii are steadily answering those lingering questions, aiming to offer 200 families per year the chance to honor their relatives with a proper burial.