Military labs do the detective work to identify soldiers decades after they died in World War II

Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II and other conflicts. But a federal lab tucked away above the bowling alley at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha and a sister lab in Hawaii are steadily answering those lingering questions. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency experts strive to offer about 200 families annually the chance to honor their relatives with a proper burial. Advances in DNA technology, combined with innovative techniques including comparing bones to chest X-rays taken by the military, mean the labs can identify more of the missing soldiers every year.