I was watching the History Channnel and they had a show on the Marines taking the different Pacific islands from the Japanese and the terrible conditions they had to fight in. I know in Europe many troops were buried in Europe and others sent home for burial, but what did they do with all of the dead Marines in the Pacific ? Did they bury them at sea ? It was so hot and humid, I don't think they could have kept them long enough to ship back to the US. Also what did they do with all the Japanese bodies ? Mass graves ? I know it is a gruesome question but I was thinking about how they disposed of the bodies while they were showing all the dead laying on the beach and in the sun. Did they have facilities on the ships off shore to embalm the bodies and then ship them home ?

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Work Harder ! Millions on welfare are depending on you.

I know we did make mass graves for the Japanese, but I'm really not tooo sure about us. I have some Photos of American cemetaries on Okinawa for, I believe, the 7th and 77th Divisions in 1945. I'd imagine the Marines did the same. I know some Americans at least made it back to Hawaii. Ernie Pyle was buried there and my grandfather had a buddy who was a pilot and, once killed, his body eventually made it to a grave in hawaii. Hmmm, that's a good question for me to ask my Grandpa as he was at a field hospital. I'll see him in a few days, hopefully I'll remember.

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Living History at http://oldreliable9_47.tripod.com

http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/ma_gallery.html

“Duty to the Fallen: The Army’s Mortuary Mission”

The Quartermaster Corps has been responsible for the care of the dead since the Civil War, This mission, which used to be known as “Graves Registration”, has evolved to include not only the search and recovery of remains on the battlefield, but to respond to any mass fatality situation. Army Mortuary Affairs Specialists have deployed around the world to assist in such places as Bosnia, Somalia, Croatia, the Middle East, and closer to home with Oklahoma City and Hurricane Andrew.

Identification of remains is an important responsibility, a process that has been perfected to the point that even remains that are discovered many years later, can often be identified. Burial of the dead, at one time a Quartermaster Corps responsibility, is conducted with honors befitting a fallen soldier. National cemeteries were first established in 1862 and now number over 100. Military cemeteries located overseas are maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission and contain the American dead from World Wars I and II. Today, the Army’s Mortuary Affairs Specialists are trained at the Quartermaster School at Ft. Lee. The 54th Quartermaster Company, the Army’s only active Mortuary Affairs unit, deploys from Ft. Lee when called.

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http://www.abmc.gov/

American Battle Monuments Commission

The Commission administers, operates, and maintains twenty-four permanent American burial grounds on foreign soil. Presently there are 124,913 U.S. War Dead interred at these cemeteries, 30,921 of World War I, 93,242 of World War II and 750 of the Mexican War.

Western Pacific Monuments and Cemeteries

http://www.abmc.gov/wpacific.htm

Central Pacific Monuments and Cemeteries

http://www.abmc.gov/epacific.htm

[ 18. December 2002, 07:13 AM: Message edited by: Crapgame ]

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"The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." - Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863
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"The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past." - William Faulkner