It was found that the identity of the remains of the war dead who had no relics collected in Iwo Jima, one of the fierce battlefields of the Pacific War, was identified by DNA analysis and returned to the bereaved family in Niigata prefecture for the first time in 76 years after the death of the war. I did.
A man from the bereaved family said, "I am impressed that my father has finally returned to his family."
In principle, DNA testing for identifying the remains of war dead was limited to cases where there were relics that could lead to their identities, but the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will collect them from this year on Iwo Jima and Tarawa Atoll in the Republic of Kiribati. Even if there are no relics, the ashes that have been removed are newly subject to DNA testing.
In January, Haruo Takahashi (79) from Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, contacted the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that "some of the remains collected on Iwo Jima in 2014 were confirmed to be Haruo's father." It means that the remains were returned on the 12th of this month.
According to the records left at Mr. Takahashi's home, his father, Tomeyoshi Fuchibuchi, was dispatched to the south by the convocation of the Army in January 1945, and died on March 17, 1945 on Iwo Jima. ..
Mr. Takahashi, who met his father's remains for the first time in 76 years after his death in the war, said, "My father's feelings when he left three young children and his mother, including myself, are immeasurable. I'm impressed with your arrival. "
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the remains of the war dead without relics have been identified as two people each on Iwo Jima and Tarawa Atoll, so both the remains of the two people on Iwo Jima are the origin of the bereaved family. It means that it was returned to.