Two unidentified sailors from the USS Monitor are set to be buried at Friday in Arlington National Cemetery on the 151th anniversary of ironclad's famous battle with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia. The descendants of the 16 sailors who perished aboard the ship when it sank in a New Year's Eve storm in 1862 are grateful for the considerable interest in Friday's interment.
A decade has gone by since the ship's turret was raised from the ocean floor in the waters off Cape Hatteras in 2002. Efforts to identify the two sailors have proved unsuccessful so far though it has been determined that they were Caucasians who stood about 5'7" tall, one was in his late teens to early 20's, the other in his 30's.
Andrew Bryan from Maine told ABC News that Friday's graveside ceremony will be an emotional event for him. His great grandfather William Bryan served as a yeoman on the Monitor when the ship sank. Based on Bryan's age and stature it is believed he could be the older of the two sailors identified through forensic work though that could only be proved by a positive DNA match. William Bryan's family was living proof that the Civil War pitched brother fighting brother as one of his brothers died fighting for the Confederacy.
