USS Monitor Civil War sailors to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery 150 years later

Two unknown crewmen found in the USS Monitor's turret will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery 150 years after the Civil War sank off the North Carolina coast.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is scheduled to speak during Friday's ceremony, which will include Monitor kin who believe the two Union sailors are their ancestors. 

Sixteen sailors died when the Monitor went down in rough seas off Cape Hatteras on March 9, 1862. The two crew members' skeletons and the remains of their uniforms were found in 2002 when the ship's rusted turret was raised from the ocean floor.

The Monitor made nautical history when it fought in the first battle between two ironclads. The battle with the CSS Virginia was a draw.

“These may very well be the last Navy personnel from the Civil War to be buried at Arlington," Mabus said in a statement earlier this week. “It’s important we honor these brave men and all they represent as we reflect upon the significant role Monitor and her crew had in setting the course of our modern Navy."

Although testing has narrowed the identities of the men down to six, descendants of all 16 soldiers who died when the ship sank are expected at the ceremony. 

Diana Rambo, of Fresno, Calif., said DNA testing showed a 50 percent chance that one man was Jacob Nicklis, her grandfather’s uncle. A ring on his right finger matched one in an old photograph, adding to the likelihood he was her relative. She had planned to be Friday's ceremony, she said.

“It’s been interesting to be connected to something so momentous, and we’re looking forward to the ceremony,” Rambo told FoxNews.com.

She said the development has brought several branches of the family together as they sift through old letters and photos and piece together their shared genealogy. One letter in particular made her long-lost relative seem real.

“I’ve started doing the research, and even read letters he wrote to his father saying he really didn’t want to go,” said Rambo, who was able to tell her 90-year-old mother of the Navy’s revelation a week before her death. “And you think about how many of these kids today are in that situation.”

And another Media says as

The evening burial, which included a gun salute and a band playing "America the Beautiful," may be the last time Civil War soldiers are buried at the cemetery overlooking Washington.
"Today is a tribute to all the men and women who have gone to sea, but especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf," said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who spoke at a funeral service before the burial.
The Monitor made nautical history when the Union ship fought the Confederate CSS Virginia in the first battle between two ironclads on March 9, 1862. The battle was a draw.
The Monitor sank about nine months later in rough seas, and 16 sailors died. In 2002, the ship's rusted turret was raised from the Atlantic Ocean floor, and the skeletons of the two crew members were found inside.
On Friday, the remains of the two men were taken to their gravesite by horse-drawn caissons, one pulled by a team of six black horses and the other pulled by six white horses. White-gloved sailors carried the caskets to their final resting place near the cemetery's amphitheater. A few men attending the ceremonies wore Civil War uniforms, and there were ladies in long dresses from the time. The ceremony also included "Taps," which was written the same year that the Monitor sank and became associated with military funerals as early as the Civil War.
The sailors buried Friday would not have recognized some parts of the graveside service, however. The military band played "America the Beautiful," which wasn't written until three decades after the Monitor sank. And the flags that draped the silver coffins were modern ones with 50 stars, not the 34-star American flag of the early 1860s.
The cemetery where the men will lie, however, has strong ties to the Civil War. Arlington was established as a military cemetery during the war and is on grounds formerly owned by the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. One of the cemetery's first monuments was a memorial to unknown Civil War soldiers.
A marker with the names of all 16 men who died onboard the Monitor will ultimately be placed at the gravesite of the sailors buried Friday. Researchers were unable to positively identify the remains, though they tried reconstructing the sailors' faces from their skulls and comparing DNA from the skeletons with living relatives of the ship's crew and their families. Medical and Navy records narrowed the possibilities to six people.