UNKNOWN GRAVES EXHUMED

January 30, 2001

Four graves were exhumed by military forensics yesterday and today at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as Punchbowl.  These graves included two sets of remains from World War II and two sets of remains from the Korean War.  This is done in an effort to fully account for the missing from these past wars.

These remains were taken to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.  They will then try to match mitochondrial DNA to identify these remains classified as unknown.

In the case of the two World War II remains, the laboratory's Deputy Director, Johnie Webb, said that his office is fairly certain that one set belongs to Seaman 2nd Class William Arthur Goodwin who was one of the 1,177 crewmen killed during the attack at Pearl Harbor.

In the case of the two Korean War remains, Webb said these remains were among the 70 American soldiers whose remains were recovered by North Koreans and returned to the United States under "Operation Glory" in 1954.  They are believed to be soldiers killed during the Chosin campaign.

Article written by: www.oldglorytraditions.com

653 Pearl Harbor casualties are buried at Punchbowl as unknowns in 264 grave sites.

At Punchbowl, 866 sets of unidentified remains from the Korean War are buried.