DNA Experts On Dover Air Force Base Working To Identify Korean War Remains
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Smack in the middle of a bustling stretch of the Dover Air Force Base, a building houses the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.
A team of 82 souls on what's known as "The Past Accounting Mission."
"We are constantly receiving remains from recoveries from WWII and Vietnam," said Dr. Timothy McMahon, the director of DNA Operations. Each day, his workforce is busy connecting the dots, solving puzzles on unidentified service men and women.
"We are getting to receive samples from those 55 boxes of remains that were repatriated from North Korea," McMahon said.
In a show of good will, Kim Jung Un ordered the return. The boxes are believed to hold American servicemen killed during the Korean War between 1950 and 1953.
"Using DNA, we can help tease out the more common pieces into the unique pieces that fit together they'll lead to an identification," McMahon said.
Anthropology, dentistry and other tests figure into solving this mystery.
Jessica Bragg is a DNA analyst and admits there's not enough time in the day to match the importance of this work.
"To see that there is a job and to bring that kind of closure to families it was my perfect job," Bragg said.
Scientifically — there are three steps.
DNA is first extracted. What bone they have to work with is cleaned and buffed and dissolved, freeing the DNA.
"We only need about .20 grams of the bone to continue with our DNA processing," Bragg explained.
It's then purified through filtering and lastly analyzed using sequencing or repeating depending on the type.
The whole process is then repeated for confirmation.
A formal identification is eventually made elsewhere, and only after a report is issued from this Dover lab.
"We like to refer to them as heroes, who gave up their life defending their country, and what we can do with those is unlock who they are by testing their DNA and comparing them to what we call a family reference," McMahon said.
It's sacred work these scientists say is worth giving up their weekends for.
Unlocking those personal secrets of the past, restoring honor today to the heroes of yesterday.
The agency has a meeting set for September 8 at 9 a.m. for families who have never had closure after losing a loved one while serving. It's scheduled to be held at the Double Tree Hotel in Essington.
