BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of U.S. War Dead

DC -- Natl Museum of Health and Medicine (Walter Reed) -- Exhibit: Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of U.S. War Dead:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NMHMID_090411_001.JPG: Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of U.S. War Dead
2. NMHMID_090411_028.JPG: Part of Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of U.S. War Dead
3. NMHMID_090411_033.JPG: Dental tools attributed to Paul Revere, late 18th century. In one of the earliest recorded cases of forensic evidence being used to identify a fallen American soldier, Paul Revere recognized dental work he had done on Joseph Warren, thus identifying Warren's remains and allowing the family to receive the body and give it a proper reburial.
4. NMHMID_090411_046.JPG: Resolved: Advances in Forensic Identification of U.S. War Dead
5. NMHMID_090411_052.JPG: The Civil War (1861 to 1865): US Dead: 620,000 Identified: 359,600 (58%) The proximity of death during the Civil War marks the first time the federal government formally recognizes the need to identify and bury war dead. A system of national cemeteries is created and an Army unit is established to fulfill this mission for dead Union soldiers, while the South relies on local efforts to identify and inter their Confederate dead.
6. NMHMID_090411_053.JPG: The Mexican-American War (1846 to 1847) US Dead: 13,283 Identified: 1,328 (10%) For the first time in the nation's history, US service members engage in combat far away from home. If killed on the battlefield, there is little chance they are identified for properly buried. Soon after the war's end, two significant events shape the policies concerning our handling of war dead: a local community in Kentucky repatriates its dead from Mexican soil and the U.S. government creates the first overseas permanent U.S. military cemetery.
7. NMHMID_090411_059.JPG: The Spanish-American War (1898): US Dead: 2,446 Identified: 2,013 (86.4%) The U.S. military authorizes the disinterment and repatriation of remains from battlefield cemeteries in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Identification discs (precursors to modern dog tags) and centralization of mortuary records are two advancements recognized from this period.
8. NMHMID_090411_061.JPG: World War I (1917-1918): US Dead: 116,516 Identified: 112,438 (96.5%) A Graves Registration Service (GRS) is created for the European theater, but only during the time of war. The preservation and centralization of mortuary records and maintenance of temporary burials occurs for the first time. Identification discs (dog tags) are now in wide use. The identification of war dead is made at the graveside by GRS personnel through association of recovered identification discs and personal effects. Fingerprinting and charting dental characteristics of the dead are completed for difficult identifications. The GRS is disbanded at war's end.
9. NMHMID_090411_065.JPG: World War II (1941-1945): US Dead: 405,399 Identified: 331,015 (81.7%) The US military enters World War II with its first blueprint for a sustained Graves Registration Service. After the war's end, the US Army Quartermaster Corps undertakes a massive Return of the Dead Program. Graveside identification are no longer performed. Central laboratories are established with the latest scientific technology to assist war dead identifications.
10. NMHMID_090411_067.JPG: The Korean War (1950-1953): US Dead: 36,574 Identified: 28,519 (78%) Many grave registration units are deactivated following World War II. When the US enters the war in Korea there is only one active graves registration unit. With a shortage of trained personnel and supplies, quartermaster officers construct temporary cemeteries in Korea. As trained personnel and supplies become available, a new policy is in place for returning war dead home during the war. Many of the unidentified were buried in areas that fell to North Korean control and were not accessible.
11. NMHMID_090411_073.JPG: The Vietnam War (1955-1973): US Dead: 58,209 Identified: 56,426 (96.9%) Concurrent Return of war dead continues during the conflict in Vietnam. Refrigeration units at collection points help preserve remains. Improved communications and transportation networks allow the deceased to be moved within 24 hours of death to one of two central mortuaries operating in Saigon (1961-1973) and DaNang (1967-1972). During the Vietnam conflict, movement of the soldier's body from the battlefield to the family is performed on an average of 7 to 10 days.
12. NMHMID_090411_075.JPG: The Gulf War (1990-1991): US Dead: 382 Identified: 381 (99.7%) On August 2, 1999, Iraq invades Kuwait. in January 1991, the war to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait (Operation Desert Storm) begins. The policy of Concurrent Return is reinstated dictating that deceased service members are removed from the battlefield and flown to the U.S. Air Force Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base for processing and identification.
13. NMHMID_090411_081.JPG: Noble Eagle (September 11, 2001) US Dead: Pentagon 184 US Dead Somerset County: 40 Identified: 219 (97.8%) The Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, the FBI Disaster Squad, and the join POW/MIA Accounting Command conduct investigations and victim identification resulting from the September 11, 2001 attacks at the Pentagon and Somerset County, PA. These federal organization s successfully identify all but five bodies at the Pentagon and all victims of the crash of Flight 93 in Somerset County, PA. Identification of World Trade Center dead is handled by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the City of New York.
14. NMHMID_090411_086.JPG: Afghanistan Iraq War (2001-present): US Dead: 4,823 (as of November 17, 2008) Identified: 4,822 (99.998%) Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner provides forensic autopsy and identification services for all fatalities in accordance with new military regulations. Mortuary Affairs personnel handle remains at collection points throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. Remains are then evacuated to the US Air Force Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base for a complete medico-legal death investigation.
15. NMHMID_090411_089.JPG: Map showing the bodies are all flown back to Dover for identification now
16. NMHMID_090411_107.JPG: 1Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie: Michael Joseph Blassie entered the US Air Force Academy in 1966 and received his officer's commission in June 1970. During his tour of duty in Vietnam, he served as a member of the 8th Special Operations Squadron. He served with distinction and was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters for his meritorious service. On May 11, 1972, 1Lt Michael J. Blassie was on a ground support mission in Song Be Province, Republic of South Vietnam, when his A-37 Dragonfly came under intense enemy anti-aircraft fire. Another pilot in the flight reported seeing Blassie's aircraft impact the ground near the village of An Loc where it exploded and burned. Enemy activity in the area precluded a recovery attempt at the time of the crash. In late October 1972, a South Vietnamese Army patrol recovered a pelvis, upper arm bone, and some ribs, as well as associated material evidence, including personal effects and identification tags for Blassie. The remains, along with the associated materials, were eventually accessioned at the US Army Mortuary at Tan Son Nhut at TSN 0673-72. The remains and material evidence remained with the Central Identification Laboratory in Southeast Asia until they were moved with the laboratory when it returned to Hawaii in 1976. Given the physical evidence associated with the human remains, they were initially designated "Believed to Be" (BTB) Michael J. Blassie. Scientific analysis of the remains in Hawaii in 1978 suggested that the remains were inconsistent with Blassie's age and height. Based on these findings, the Armed Services Graves Registration Office removed the alleged name association of Michael J. Blassie, consequently redesignating them as unknown remains, X-26. On May 28, 1984, in an effort to honor all who served in Vietnam, the remains of X-26 were interred as the Vietnam Unknown Soldier and buried with military honors in the Tomb of the Unknowns at the Arlington National Cemetery. Due to advances in DNA technology, the Tomb of the Unknowns was opened and the remains of X-26 were removed for analysis on May 14, 1998. Bone samples from X-26 were taken to Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory mtDNA sequencing. The mtDNA sequences obtained from the bones were compared to reference mtDNA samples from maternal relatives of seven service members who were reported missing near the location where the remains of X-26 were found. The mtDNA results from X-26 excluded six of the families and matches exactly the two family reference samples submitted by Blassie's mother and sister. On June 22, 1998, the Central Identification Laboratory identified 1Lt Michael J. Blassie using the results of anthropological and mtDNA analysis to the exclusion of all other possibilities. The remains of 1st Michael J. Blassie, escorted by an Air Force honor guard, left the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on July 9, 1998, and began the journey back home to Missouri. On July 11, 1998, he was buried with full military honors in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. 1992: the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory uses mitochondrial DNA to support identifications made by the Central Identification Laboratory. June 1995: Mitochondrial DNA is approved for use in identification of skeletal material by a Defense Science Board Task Force on the Use of DNA Technology for Identification of Ancient Remains. 1998: Vietnam-era remains within the Tomb of the Unknowns are Arlington National Cemetery are disinterred. The remains are identified as 1st Lt. Michael Blassie by the Central Identification Laboratory through matched DNA sequences by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. January 31, 2000 DoD Instruction 2310.5 states that the Central Identification Laboratory Scientific Director shall establish the identity of remains, and identifications are no longer subject to approval by the Armed Services Graves Registration Office.
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2009 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs. I've also got a Nikon D90 and a newer Fuji -- the S200EHX -- both of which are nice but I still prefer the flexibility of the Fuji. Trips this year: Niagara Falls, NY, New York City, Civil War Trust conferences in Gettysburg, PA and Springfield, IL, and my 4th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles, Yosemite, Death Valley, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of a Lincoln-Obama cupcake sculpture published in Civil War Times and WUSA-9, the local CBS affiliate, ran a quick piece on me. A picture that I took at the annual Abraham Lincoln Symposium appeared in the National Archives' "Prologue" magazine. I became a volunteer with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Number of photos taken this year: 417,000.
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