Arlington burial for Brooklyn soldier lost in WWII

September 12, 2014 Associated Press

An undated photo of Bernard Gavrin, the WWII soldier from Brooklyn who went missing but whose body was recently recovered and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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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 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.