Unknown Soldier

I don't think there is anything quite sadder than a grave marked as "Unknown" except maybe a military grave marked as "Unknown Soldier" I cried and cried as I walked through Arlington and saw grave after grave, there are forgotten graves and unmarked graves at the Confederate Cemetery in the Bonny Oaks area of Chattanooga, I stop and walk through there sometimes and wonder about the men buried there, boys who called for their Mama, husbands whose last thought was of their wife left behind, and hoping and praying she would be alright, a young man who saw a beautiful angel and thought it was the girl he left behind and then realized she wasn't, at the National Cemetery in Chattanooga, there are rows and rows of Unknown Soldier graves, there is a section of POW graves, how very sad to die so far from home; I have seen pictures of a field of Unknown Soldier graves on a hillside in France, the ground covered in blood red poppies. I have heard that with the knowledge from DNA there will never again be an "Unknown Soldier" grave, so potentially any soldier's remains from any grave anywhere in the world can have their DNA collected and checked against a database and identified, I know that some remains will yield no DNA, but wow at the possibilities. How wonderful that there will never be a loved one left behind who will wonder and worry about their beloved daughter, son, spouse or sibling, wondering if they are being held as a prisoner, or if they will walk through the door at any point in time. As a Mother, wife, child, grandchild and niece of men and women in the Armed Services, I just can't imagine the pain of not knowing. So I was very happy to find this article today, I know how things get mixed up and records lost or misplaced and I'm sure it happens more in a time of war, I'm just glad this was found and maybe some family somewhere can find some comfort.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/uss-turner-mystery-burial

Sorry for the dead link.