When a soldier dies in war, their remains can be a last consolation for a grieving family, though some families don't even get that. The remains of some 6,000 soldiers who died in World War II have still not been identified. And around 50 of them are soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Division, the African American soldiers who fought in Italy in 1944 and 1945.
Current rules require a DNA sample from a relative before remains can be exhumed for testing. But now, the Pentagon is considering a more expansive way to use DNA.
The World's Marco Werman spoke with two people on the subject. The first interview was with Timothy McMahon, the director of the Defense Department's DNA Operations, which oversees the labs involved in identifying American soldiers missing or unaccounted for from past and current wars.
