ARLINGTON, Va. – An Army private who went missing in World War II is being buried at Arlington National Cemetery after his remains were recovered seven decades later.
Bernard Gavrin of Brooklyn, New York, was 29 when he fought in the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific theater in 1944. Gavrin was reported missing in July 1944, after Japanese forces launched a suicide assault, known as a banzai attack, on Gavrin's unit, the 105th Infantry Regiment.
In recent years, excavations on Saipan by a Japanese nonprofit group have turned up the remains of American and Japanese soldiers.
Military officials say Gavrin's remains were uncovered last year and identified through dental records and a DNA analysis that matched Gavrin's nephew.
Burial with full military honors is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
