At least 600,000 soldiers who died in France during World War I are still officially missing, their resting places unknown and unmarked — but it is still possible to identify a few of the fallen.
are still officially missing, their resting places unknown and unmarked.
Researchers use the state of the remains and scraps of uniform or equipment to check that the skeleton doesn't date from an earlier period or is evidence of a crime scene."The best sources of proof are metal-reinforced leather boots, which preserve well and are different depending on the country," said Stephan Naji, head of the recovery unit at Commonwealth War Graves Commission .
"If there's a military plaque with a name of it and proof of next of kin, the soldier's descendants can repatriate him to his family home or they can let the state bury him in a national cemetery," said ONAC's Stephane Jocquel.One of the CWGC's missions is to help the authorities identify as many as possible of the 100,000 soldiers from the former British Empire who are still missing.
Investigators also clean personal items, like razors, forks and watches, for fine details like the owner's engraved initials or a hallmark indicating the date and place the object was made. At the Department of Defense, one division works to bring home the tens of thousands of unidentified soldiers. At the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, experts spend years using DNA, dental records, sinus records and chest X-rays to identify the remains of service members killed in combat,Since 2015, the DPAA has identified nearly 1,200 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines using remains returned from 45 countries. was the first World War I casualty to be recovered and identified by the agency.
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