HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii - The airman's possessions, laid out on a table in a military lab, offer a peek deep into the past.

His pockets produced 51 cents in dimes, nickels, and pennies dating from 1920 to 1942. A neatly handwritten note tucked inside a faded address book reveals the words "all the girls know," though the rest of the letter is mostly decomposed and unreadable.

Forensic scientists at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command are using these and other clues to help them identify the body of World War II airman found in a California glacier last month. The Hawaii-based experts have spent the last few weeks meticulously examining his bones, taking DNA samples, and studying his teeth to learn who he was and when he died.