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2006年VOA标准英语-Decades Later, MIA Search Provides Closure for

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(单词翻译)

By Al Pessin
Honolulu
27 July 2006

The effort to identify the remains1 of missing American troops from past wars is very technical, involving anthropology2, forensic3 analysis, and DNA4. But behind it all are thousands of families that are sometimes eagerly waiting for news, and other times surprised that their long lost child, parent or spouse5 has been found. VOA's Al Pessin talked to officials at the U.S. military laboratory in Hawaii where the work is done, and where the families go to be reunited with the remains of their loved ones.

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Inside US military identification laboratory  
  
When the remains arrive here from distant battlefields they receive full military honors. And when they leave, they are often accompanied by a member of their family, perhaps a widow who lost her husband 35 years ago, perhaps a now-grown son or daughter who never met his or her father.

The remains, by now, are unrecognizable piles of bones, identified through highly technical scientific analysis. The center's deputy scientific director, Dr. Robert Mann, says although families can understand the basics of the science involved, it is sometimes something very unscientific that enables family members to really re-connect with their loved one.

"We have some things that really do kind of clinch6 it for a family member, such as the pencil sharpener, for one individual, who, once she saw the pencil sharpener that convinced her that we really had identified her dad. It was emotional for her because her dad used to write to her every day from the field and use a pencil. And he had to sharpen his pencil with his pencil sharpener. So a little old 15-, 20-cent pencil sharpener was the thing that really convinced her and made her feel good and comfortable that in fact they had found her dad," he said.

 
Johnie Webb
  
The senior advisor7 to the military command that searches for and identifies the missing, Johnie Webb, has been involved in the effort since 1975. He remembers another woman who came to Hawaii to collect the remains of her father. "She was two months old when he was shot down. So she had no memory of her father. And she relayed to me the story that she had been, all of her life, trying to get to know her father," he said.

Retrieving8 his bones did not help in that. But when the center announced that the man's remains had been identified, many of his former comrades got in touch with the family to express their condolences, men the daughter had never met. "And so she got to talk to many of the other pilots that flew with him, many of the others that served with him, listened to the war stories that they shared with her. And she said that for the first time, she felt like she really knew her father. And then, as she related, to be able to see her children and see any of the tendencies her children had that would remind her of the stories that she had heard about her dad," he said.

In his job, Johnie Webb meets with many family members who come to accompany remains to their final resting places. He remembers one Vietnam War widow who came to collect her husband's remains nearly 40 years after he had been shot down. "They had bought matching wedding bands, gold bands and each of them had five diamonds. And so she was convinced that he was wearing his wedding band, even though he wasn't supposed to do it. And when we did the recovery, we recovered that wedding band. It was tarnished9. It was bent10. But the five diamonds were still there. And when she came out to receive the remains, she wore her wedding band around her neck, and I was able to add her husband's wedding band on the chain that she had around her neck," he said.

Webb says the effort to identify the missing is also important to their former comrades-in-arms, who did make it home alive. "I have stood in a group of old veterans who lost a friend in battle and watched the tears flow down their eyes as they say, 'Thank you, I have lived with this guilt11 all these years that I could not get my buddy12 back. And now you have brought him back home,'" he said.

Webb says the worldwide effort to find and identify the remains of missing American servicemen and women is still important even after so many years. "As a Vietnam veteran, I think that had I not come back home, I would want somebody be trying and provide those answers to my wife and my children as to what happened to me," he said.

American military teams are working in Southeast Asia and elsewhere around the world to find the remains of the missing and send them to Hawaii for identification. The effort is made more difficult by the harsh jungle environment, by people who have taken remains and artifacts over the years, and sometimes by politics, which keeps teams away from old battlefields for many years.

But Johnie Webb says the effort will continue for the families and the veterans, and to demonstrate to today's troops that the U.S. military will not leave anyone behind on any battlefield, no matter how long it takes to bring them home.


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1 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
2 anthropology zw2zQ     
n.人类学
参考例句:
  • I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
  • Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。
3 forensic 96zyv     
adj.法庭的,雄辩的
参考例句:
  • The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
  • The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后,法官于10时30分宣布休庭。
4 DNA 4u3z1l     
(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸
参考例句:
  • DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
  • Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。
5 spouse Ah6yK     
n.配偶(指夫或妻)
参考例句:
  • Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
  • What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么?
6 clinch 4q5zc     
v.敲弯,钉牢;确定;扭住对方 [参]clench
参考例句:
  • Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
  • We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元,请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。
7 advisor JKByk     
n.顾问,指导老师,劝告者
参考例句:
  • They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
  • The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。
8 retrieving 4eccedb9b112cd8927306f44cb2dd257     
n.检索(过程),取还v.取回( retrieve的现在分词 );恢复;寻回;检索(储存的信息)
参考例句:
  • Ignoring all, he searches the ground carefully for any cigarette-end worth retrieving. 没管打锣的说了什么,他留神的在地上找,看有没有值得拾起来的烟头儿。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
  • Retrieving the nodules from these great depths is no easy task. 从这样的海底深渊中取回结核可不是容易的事情。 来自辞典例句
9 tarnished e927ca787c87e80eddfcb63fbdfc8685     
(通常指金属)(使)失去光泽,(使)变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 ); 玷污,败坏
参考例句:
  • The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
  • His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨,败坏了学校的声誉。
10 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
11 guilt 9e6xr     
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责
参考例句:
  • She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
  • Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。
12 buddy 3xGz0E     
n.(美口)密友,伙伴
参考例句:
  • Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气,老兄。有什么麻烦吗?
  • Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了,你这家伙!

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