Identifying an Unknown Soldier

When I first saw this headline, I thought how wonderfully advanced the use of DNA identification technology must have become to be able to identify a single soldier killed 80 years ago. I wondered how they would have been able to compare the recovered DNA to that of the missing soldier. But then I read the article and discovered that he was identified via his wallet, which was found along with his remains.

Agreed. When I was in elementary school, I remember stuying the basics of journalism and newspapers. The prevailing theory at the time was that "who, what, when, where, why and how" were to be spelled out with the first three paragraphs of any article because you never knew how much space an article would get in the finished product. If paragraphs needed to be removed later, the most important information would still be there.

Now it seems to me that the manner in which the soldier was identified is the "how" and rates a little higher significance than the 10th paragraph. While I'm happy that this soldier was identified, making the assessment by finding his wallet isn't particularly technical.

"A French archaeologist found skeletal remains, plus fragments of a military boot and a wallet bearing Lupo's name at the site of a conservation project near Ploisy in July 2003.

Greer said Lupo's remains were one of two sets recovered at the same time at the same site. The other set of remains is believed to be an American soldier, but scientists have not yet positively identified them, Greer said."

I guess they are still looking for the walet of the other guy.....

You are correct, mostly, except that the 'why' is normally relegated to the editorial pages.. but then, nowadays, how often do you see 'correct journalism' practiced?

This is semi-non-relevant but...

With all these soldiers that are kidnapped and held hostage. Why don't governments have RFID tags or some sort of tracking device implanted in each soldier. I know there would be a lot of privacy concerns about this but it could help get kidnapped soldiers back.

Your comment is very relevant. Dogtags are definitely a "low tech" technology in a high tech world.