A Brooklyn woman has helped officials identify the remains of her uncle, a Marine in World War II, 74 years after he was killed — using her own DNA. Nancy Lewis, of Bensonhurst, sent in her DNA sample 2¹/₂ years ago, hoping it could lead military officials to the remains of Pvt. Joseph C. Carbone — who was killed on Nov. 20, 1943, the first day of the Battle of Tarawa.
“Nobody thought of giving DNA, so I called and I asked them,” she told The Post. “I was like, ‘I’m still in shock’ . . . Oh my God, [my family] is all ecstatic about it.” Carbone, who grew up on Gold Street in Brooklyn Heights, wanted to join the Marines when he was 17, but his mother wouldn’t allow it, his nephew Joseph Caramanica said. She finally let him go when he turned 18.
