Monitor Sailors to be Interred at Arlington
Via Mark Jenkins at CWT, word comes today that the two sailors whose remains were found in the turret of U.S.S. Monitor will be buried on March 8 at Arlington National Cemetery. Although there has been public speculation about their possible identities, those cannot be confirmed, so they will be buried as “unknowns.” Research will continue in an effort to identify them at some future date.
March 8 will be the 151st anniversary of the arrival of Monitor at Newport News, the evening before her famous battle with the Confederate ironclad Virginia. This year also marks mark the 40th anniversary of the 1973 discovery of the Monitor wreck site off Cape Hatteras, and the beginning of an unprecedented series of archaeological and historical studies on the naval history of the Civil War. The work on Monitor provided a template for later investigations on the Confederate submersible H. L. Hunley, located off Charleston more than two decades later.
Earlier posts about Monitor:
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Dead Confederates, A Civil War Era Blog 
I wouldn’t be surprised if, over time, they’re not able to determine the identities of the sailors. Technology continues to amaze me.
In general, I favor less rather than more government spending, but as far as I’m concerned seeking the identities of fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen, no matter how long dead, is a core function and should be pursued whenever possible. It seems the least we can do.