TA152,

I'm sorry, I missed your questions.

Much depended on the situation, there were graves registration units, when possible we would pick up and carry men we lost, some were detailed, most didn't need to be asked.

If we lost a man on patrol during an island recon, we left him. There was no burial, no rifle stuck in the ground with his helmet as a marker the way Hollywood films may show, if you did bury one, the japs would know there was more than one American on the island, they would dig him up if they did find him. An artillery strike or a bombing is about the worst to be seen in regard to remains, it looks more like a butcher shop fell to earth, you look for remains up in the trees hanging from branches, or spattering on the vegetation.

Sometimes there are very few remains to recover if a man took a direct hit, the insects are a factor, as well as birds, land crabs, and ants, taking bodies to bones in a week or so. This is gruesome to explain but to answer the question, the climate caused bodies to blacken, the torso would bloat, if the remains had no way to vent, they would split and burst.

The japs would burn their dead, we buried them with buldozers, later in the war flame throwers were used to eliminate the dead.

__________________
All the Best
Jack