LSU is currently working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to find the identities of two sailors that were discovered in the USS Monitor back in 2002.  The goal has been to identify who these two men were; so far they haven’t had any certain identification, but think they may know the identity of one of the men.

            Mary Manhein, director of the LSU FACES Lab had this to say, “We don’t know the answers about their lives, but the reconstruction is a way to bring the past to life, to create something as similar as possible to the original, to see the faces take shape, to go from bone to flesh is very exciting. Our hope is that someone seeing the sculptures may recognize the face of an ancestor.” The faces will be on display in Washington D.C. and if they still do not know both the men's identities, they will put them to rest.

            The question many people will have is, “Is the science accurate?” and “Is there a reason to know the ancestors of these two men?” Summit Christian Academy’s history and geography teacher Greg Finch had this to say, “… They’ve reconstructed King Tut and when you compare the reconstruction with the burial mask, the golden burial mask, you find out the science is really good.”  When asked about if it is important to know our ancestry, Greg Finch said that as you get older,  you care more about where you came from, and what you have to tell your kids.