Friday, 27 January 2012

Military Burials

I found this article and thought it was particularly relevant given some of the discussions of how we treat fallen soldiers in Western society. Battlefield archaeology is handled differently from other sorts of graves. The excavation hopes to learn as much as possible but with soldiers, especially soldiers who may still have living relatives such as those that served in both World Wars, the aim is to return and reinter the fighters with honour. Even the remains that cannot be identified are given full military burial, to be acknowledged and treated with honour.
That is why this article caught my eye, the idea that an Army run military cemetery could have so many mistakes, misplaced headstones as well as misplaced remains were both mentioned. The fact that this is not an isolated incident but rather spans several military cemeteries across the United States it is clear why this iscausing shock and anger from families and the Veterans Administration.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/burial-problems-found-at-va-cemeteries/2012/01/23/gIQAYXLFMQ_story.html

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