Defense POW/MIA Analysis

The evidence that they find gets relayed to the medical examiner. Forensic anthropologists have the ability to classify the cause of death by examining marks or fractures found on the bones which in return helps officials determine the weapon used. All of this information helps the medical examiner find the cause of death, based on damages to the bones that a forensic anthropologist finds.

Todd collected many of the human skeletal remains in the collection; the majority of the remains collected were unclaimed bodies that came from mortuaries and city hospitals. The demographics that are comprised of in this collection consist of both sexes, various ages ranging from the early 30’s to early 80’s, different ethnicities, and being labeled as either “W” or “B” for white and black respectively.

There were many factors that lead t the discovery of the skeleton owner’s gender, ethnicity, height, and age.

After that they “analyze bones to determine the victim's biological profile” as it is said in “What is Forensic Anthropology” by R.U. Steinberg.

Description: Forensic Anthropologists helps to study the skeletal systems of people to determine the sex, ethnicity, and distinct characteristics of the dead skeleton they are studying.

If you were a forensic anthropologist and were studying human remains, what information would you look for in the bones? Why would this information be helpful?

“This is my lab and what we do is study bones,” states Kari Bruwelheide in her video entitled “30,000 Skeletons”. Out of all three resources, “Puzzles of the Chesapeake” by Sally Walker, “Forensic Anthropology” by an unknown author, and “30,000 Skeletons” by Smithsonian Education, but presented by Kari Bruwelheide, “30,000 Skeletons” is by far better at explaining the role of an anthropologist. It is unbeatable because it is a video and Kari Bruwelheide has personal experience of being a forensic anthropologist. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist that studies human remains, or in another word, skeletons, to try to find out information.

Forensic anthropologist examine skeletal remains for elements of a skeleton that can give clues to the person it belongs to. The Kennewick man’s skeleton was found in surprisingly good condition meaning the damage to the skeleton was done in his life, not due to deterioration. The skeleton showed a projectile point lodged in his hip, five broken ribs that did not properly heal, two small dents in his skull, and a bum shoulder. These wounds show an insight to the lifestyle

Forensic anthropologist knowledge of the human body, helps aid in the outcome of a death investigation. (Stanojevich) To help solve criminal trials, the systematic recovery and collection of physical evidence in the field, the scientific analysis in the laboratory and the protection of integrity of evidence, is crucial. Usually, response teams from either federal, state, or local authorities will gather and examine the physical evidence of a crime scene, but there are often times, when a forensic anthropologist is called in. Forensic anthropologist are major players, because they are trained in anthropology, archaeology, human osteology, forensic taphonomy, and chain-of-evidence procedures. Their study of human remains, aids in the case by working to assess the age, sex, stature, ancestry and unique features of a skeleton. Forensic anthropologist have been used to investigate victims of homicide, accidental deaths, natural deaths, and mass fatalities. The cases a forensic anthropologist works on usually involve victims that are decomposed, skeletonized, or have body parts that are missing. Often times, the forensic anthropologist, is the last chance for identification and justice for the victims. (Walsh-Haney)

One would think that there were lessons learned as the result of the Patton case and many similar situations after the end of World War II. On the contrary, some 78,000 American World War II MIA’s still remain unaccounted for (of which 38,000 are considered recoverable) yet a minimum effort is being applied by the US Government to discover, recover and identify these fallen warriors. Most of the resources of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), the responsible agency, are directed toward the 1800 MIA’s of the Southeast Asia conflict. This is somewhat understandable as next to nothing was being done about MIA’s of any era until years of lobbying by families of the Southeast Asia war MIA’s brought The Department of Defense to it’s senses.

Two skeletons were uncovered at Deerwood Park, August 21, 2017, early in the morning on a marked trail. No IDs or identification were found on the pair when searched. The police have asked us, forensic anthropologists Dr. Doe and Dr. Smith from Oklahoma University, to identify one of these sets of remains. We were given the humerus, femur, cranium, mandible, and pelvis of the body to measure and examine to determine sex, ethnic origin, age, and height.

During 1956, a skull was found near River Ouse. It was found near the village of Ricall, Yorkshire. A farmer was happily digging his crops until he felt something solid and hard. He scraped the soil and found a human skeleton! He called the police but the police decided the bones were not modern bones so they decided to call the archaeologists. They found sixty-nine more bones. Some questions to consider is:

Japanese-American internees and the Prisoner of War were constrained to feel “invisible” to the world. Louie and other Prisoners of War (POW), were held in captivity in Ofuna, POWs were enforced by Japanese to feel invisible, as an example they were not allowed to conversate with each other because they might give information out that Japanese tried to keep,”There were dozens of men in cells near him, but there was no sound. In this warren of captives, Louie was alone” (Hillenbrand, 147),What this is showing is isolation, Louie and the other Prisoners of War (POW) were isolated from each other, if they were to talk to another they’ll get harsh beatings from the Japanese. Mine and her brother, were both isolated from people around them, even

Estimating the age at time of death from an unidentified individual’s remains is an important factor of forensic anthropology. There are certain standard processes and procedures that are employed in the lab to help determine the age as well as other biological profile data. In young adults, bone and tooth maturation are often used to roughly estimate the age of the body. In adults, the deterioration of bones is used to predict the age of the unknown body.

When learning about skeletons is an interesting topic to learn about. You never know what new things you can learn just by reading. Skeletons are found in different places. In different shapes and sizes. They can surprisingly be in different qualities and maybe they can be unique. Archaeologists have found some skeletons of maybe random people and even some history known people.