WEBVTT

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The Westlock project is responsible for

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identifying the remains associated with

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the Westlock disaster . And the

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Westlock disaster occurred on the 21st

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of May of 1944 when an accident ,

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loading ammunition and fuel onto ships

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in the Westlock of Pearl Harbor wounded

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hundreds and killed at least 130

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service members . Those that died but

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couldn't be identified by the late 19

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forties were buried as unknowns in the

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National Memorial Cemetery of the

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Pacific or the punch bowl . And at the

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start of the project , 82 service

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members are still unaccounted for .

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We've really built upon what we've

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learned as we've expanded our

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disinterment efforts with the uh US S

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Oklahoma . That was one of the really

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first big projects that we worked . And

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it's really helped us to understand how

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disinterment work . What are the ways

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that you research these , what are we

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looking for ? The Westlock project is a

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little bit different because large

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scale disaster that basically started

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as an explosion on an LST in research .

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We really think about it as trying to

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understand exactly what happened and

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what it is all of the information that

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all of our partners within and external

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to DP A are gonna need . As we go ,

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the process of disinterment itself is

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highly collaborative . The punch bowl

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staff are really instrumental to the

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entire process and they also support

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the dignified transfer ceremony before

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the remains are transported to the

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laboratory . And then once the remains

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are brought to the laboratory , we have

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a designated team to safely open the

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caskets and then after that , they are

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brought upstairs into a secure lab

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space to be processed and ready for ,

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to justify the disinterment of the

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Westlock unknowns from the punch bowl .

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We had to prove that we had a strong

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probability to identify most of those

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individuals . A lot of that probability

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is also supported by our access to

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historical records such as wartime

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medical and dental charting as well as

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demonstrating our scientific approaches

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through anthropology , dental isotope

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and DNA modalities . So within the last

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couple of years , we finally obtained

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enough DNA family reference samples to

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say we do have a strong probability of

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identifying most of the Westlock

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unknowns . We're hoping to start making

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identifications within the first year

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of project initiation . So we're hoping

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that our first identification will be

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made towards the end of 2025 .

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If I were to describe this project in

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one word , it would be determined .

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We're all here at DPA A because we love

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what we do and being able to bring

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answers to family and friends who have

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been waiting And for Westlock , in

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particular , those families have been

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waiting for eight decades at this point ,

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being able to even give them a little

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glimmer of hope makes this entire

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effort worth it .