WCU senior Tayler Franklin helps identify fallen soldiers at Pearl Harbor
Photo of Tayler Franklin. **Image does not depict items of evidence. All material present is taken from the DPAA Laboratory anatomical reference collection.**
By Cam Adams
Amidst a second world war, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Lives were lost, others were changed and one day later, the United States entered the largest conflict in human history.
There aren鈥檛 many left who remember that infamous day 83 years ago, but Tayler Franklin, a senior at 甜瓜视频app, sees the remnants of it in the very place it happened.
Franklin works as an intern with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense, helping identify unknown war dead from Pearl Harbor and other U.S. conflicts over the last century.
鈥淚t's 100% a very humbling feeling,鈥� Franklin said. 鈥淚t is very rewarding to know that you're part of something that's making such a difference because I do believe that everyone, no matter who you are, has a right to have their name. That's such a simple right.
鈥淚t feels really good to be able to give them that because if not for them, we might not be here.鈥�
Franklin, a forensic anthropology and forensic science double major, usually starts her mornings in Hawaii out slowly. Sometimes she鈥檚 doing a bit of reading or sipping on a cup of coffee, but once the day gets rolling, her schedule can get busy.
She鈥檚 been helping research and tagging along with full-time staff on several projects that the DPAA works with.
Image does not depict items of evidence. All material present is taken from the DPAA Laboratory anatomical reference collection
Every other Monday, Franklin also helps with disinterments where interns and staff gather to bring unknown burials from the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu to clean and lay out the remains.
In addition to her assistance in handling the remains, Franklin also attends monthly meetings where staff present their findings for why an unknown service member is linked with a certain name.
The nine-to-five grind and life in the Aloha State may be quite foreign to the Richfield native, but the work she鈥檚 doing isn鈥檛. It鈥檚 just what she's learned in the classroom at WCU.
鈥淭he scope of the work, the lab part of it, it kind of matches up directly with what I've seen so far in the undergrad forensic (anthropology) program,鈥� Franklin said. 鈥淚 have to give a shout out to them because the things they make you learn are the things you're going to practice.鈥�
Franklin was familiar with the DPAA through a couple of professors at WCU, but she learned of this specific opportunity through College of Arts and Sciences instructor Rebecca George.
Franklin said assistant professor Kayleigh Best, who did this internship when she was Franklin鈥檚 age, was also instrumental in her getting to work with the DPAA.
Some time after responding to that email from George, Franklin is making a difference in the military community and working towards her future. Once she returns to Cullowhee, Franklin plans on doing some undergraduate research through WCU and applying to graduate schools.
But for the summer, Franklin is hoping to soak up as much knowledge as she can.
鈥淚t's been really wild just because going to a whole different place that's really different from the place that I grew up in, and also, having such a prestigious internship,鈥� Franklin said.
鈥淚t's really different from anything I've ever known, but also in a lot of ways it's kind of everything that I've been working for at Western so far.鈥�
