This photo was taken by Suzanne DeChillo of The New York Times. It is of Virginia Sanchez, 90 years young, and the mother of Jose Ramon Sanchez, 18, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968. PVC Sanchez, 3rd Marine Division, was aboard a CH-46 helicopter sent to rescue fellow Marines in the mountains of Khe Sahn. The chopper was hit by small arms fire. Sanchez and 4 other Marines were killed when the chopper was destroyed.
His remains were never identified. Recently, investigators from the the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, working with bone fragments from the crash, officially certified Sanchez's remains 40 years after his death, using DNA samples provided by his mother and brother.
PVC Sanchez will be be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in the Spring.
For the complete story please go here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/nyregion/07marine.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=vietnam%20soldier%20identified%20through%20dna&st=cse&oref=slogin
