'We believe about 250 sets of remains can still be found, and we want to keep going,' History Flight founder Mark Noah said.
By Mike Valerio, CNN On a remote Pacific sandbar, replete with the ravages of war, a small group of veterans, volunteers and archeologists are doing their best to keep the enduring promise of"no man left behind."
In 2003, commercial pilot and World War II history aficionado Mark Noah founded History Flight. The group's initial aim was to preserve American aviation history, an outgrowth of Noah's love of antiquity, aircraft and his family tradition of scholarship. "So, I self-funded what became our first Tarawa excavation, and with all of those people missing in such a small place, we chose Tarawa because we thought we could deliver a project with a high probability of success." The cost was $25,000, with a team of 10 people.
The McCannel twins are now 76 years old, born three years after a telegram told their mother Summers was killed in action, his body missing on a faraway Pacific island. Summers was killed on November 23, 1943, the final day of fighting on the island, and according to military records, the day Summers' second enlistment extension was to expire.
Byrd said the average time to identify an individual is 2.5 years, but can be as quickly as two weeks. DNA testing and other identification work then begins. Samples are sent to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab in Dover, Delaware, and a type of identification known as stable isotope analysis can also be performed at the agency's Pearl Harbor lab. The isotope testing is used to trace remains' geographic origin."You love it when the test results come back in, and they clearly direct you to one individual that these remains should be," Byrd said.
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