Our country recognizes the courage and strength of our soldiers.
They are the ones who face the dangers of war zones to defend our country, our sovereignty, and our freedom. They have to endure the physical, emotional, and mental struggle to be where they are. That is why the Army and Defense Department always do their best to fulfill their promise:
To “leave no man behind.”
Fallen soldiers should not be an exemption. As many lost their lives to war, so are their bodies and identities, making it difficult to reunite with their families. This is why the POW/MIA Accounting Agency is doing its best to bring their remains home to their families and give them a proper burial.
This is why they tapped Brigham Young University to help them out.
BYU is the only university in the country with a Center for Family History and Genealogy and the courses that study and undertake it. This “genealogical reinforcement” made it possible to identify more remains faster and of a more extensive scope.
More than 82,000 American soldiers are missing since World War II.
The university was initially given 65 remains to identity; 48 of them were completed by BYU students. With the advanced technological developments and research in DNA science and archaeology, the partnership between the POW/MIA Agency strengthened, and BYU improved its success rate.
The project goes through a rigorous process to make sure they return the right remains to the family.
The agency has a historical team to research where missing soldiers could possibly be found. A separate archaeological team does the digging to find any remains, sift through them, and verify through some DNA samples.
This is where BYU comes in.
They hand their information to the university to research any information on the soldier’s next of kin and other DNA donors. This can take three hours to three weeks.
BYU Student Sydney Bjork describes this project as a “reverse genealogy”.
Usually, their family history work starts with the present generation and then research back through as many generations that they possibly could. In contrast, this one begins with the soldier and investigating when they served and died down to the closest living kin.
This project has become both a learning experience and a service to the country for BYU’s students.
According to BYU Professor Jill Crandell:
“They’re doing family history work and learning their skills as they’re being mentored, but they’re also having a significant impact on families who appreciate what they’re doing to help them as a family to have some of this information and to have some closure.”
While for some, like Melanie Torres, it is also something close to her heart.
“My grandfather was in the military, my great-grandfather was in World War II, and my husband is in the Air Force. It is something that just really connects to my heart.”
Salute to BYU’s Center for Family History and Genealogy for doing this work.
Indeed, it means a lot to the families to be reunited with their missing loved ones and to finally bring them home and lay to rest where they belong.
But a snappier salute to our fallen soldiers for their service, dedication, and courage.
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