Well I have had an adventuresome time this afternoon...in the fact that I had the amazing opportunity to visit with the director of the Forensic Science Academy at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. Dr. Robert Mann is the overseer of the forensic identification part of the JPAC/CIL or the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and Central Identification Lab. Dr. Mann is also the director of the Forensic Science Academy and my mentor on my road to becoming a working physical anthropologist. Dr. Mann is also one of only seventy-three forensic scientists to be certified as a Diplomate by the American Board of Forensic Anthropologists. I have visited with him previously in Honolulu and each time it is amazing conversation and enlightenment.
JPAC/CIL is an organization that houses one of the largest forensic anthropology labs on the planet. Their mandate includes the repatriation of U.S. servicemen/women who have lost their lives in combat anywhere in the world where they may have been called to duty. Teams of archaeologist, anthropologists, pathologists and many others involved in the work it takes to bring these people home. The ultimate goal of this organization is to reunite the remains of servicemen/women lost in combat with their families that only wish to lay to rest their beloved.
Some cases that are in the process for human remain identification are WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict and the Cold War that CIL are in the process of identifying. For more information see (http://www.jpac.pacom.mil/index.php?page=wars_and_conflicts&size=100&ind=2).
The work that is done here at JPAC/CIL relates to the class I am currently taking (Archaeology of Death) in the fact that the work these people do answers questions about the past with the thanatic factor determination which may be reviled from the remains of those individuals found.
Just to add the experience of visiting Dr.Mann today as I was getting ready to leave he presented me with a personally signed copy of his book " Forensic Detective: How I Cracked the World's Toughest Cases"
Sooo Awesome.
Aloha and Ma halo
Hey Linz - Awesome to read your post about this visit. I will need to hunt down a copy of the book you got to add to my summer reading list. :-)
ReplyDeleteOne suggestion to help make your blog a bit easier to read - you can turn words into the links, instead of including the whole URL. The URL breaks up the text a bit too much, which can make it hard to read.
Lindz -- super jealous that you go to visit there a second time. I wonder if the Canadian Forces have a similar program to have service men and women repatriated here. Have you heard of any?
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