article_snippet.sent: The military is acting now, nearly 75 years after the men died, because advances in forensic science and technology as well as genealogical help from family members have made it possible to identify more remains, said Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency spokeswoman.
article_snippet.sent: The move is apparently a part of a new Pentagon policy on disinterring the remains of unknown troops.
article_snippet.sent: According to a new Pentagon policy on disinterring the remains of unknown troops, bodies may be exhumed from Punchbowl or any other permanent American military cemeteries - but bodies can not be removed from any U.S. Navy vessel that is being used as a national memorial, like the USS Arizona which remains sunk and on display in Honolulu.
article_snippet.sent: The secretary of Defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved one's remains will be recovered, identified, and returned to Morgan as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care,' Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said in a statement. '
article_snippet.sent: Officials aim to identify the remains of up to 388 servicemen within five years.
article_snippet.sent: In 2003, the military disinterred one casket at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific based on information provided by Ray Emory, a Pearl Harbor survivor who has spent years doggedly scouring documents.
article_snippet.sent: Many remains were comingled when buried, and the military was able to identify five servicemen from one casket.
article_snippet.sent: The Pentagon started notifying families on Tuesday about the plans to disinter and identify the bodies.
article_snippet.sent: If a body is identified, the family will be notified and the sailor or Marine's remains returned to the family for a full military burial.