Related Papers
Establishing the American Way of Death: World War I and the Foundation of the United States’ Policy Toward the Repatriation and Burial of Its Battlefield Dead
2015 •
Kyle Hatzinger
Carry on: American women and the veteranist-commemoration of the First World War, 1917-1945
2015 •
Allison S . Finkelstein
International Journal of Military History and Historiography
Politics in the Art of War: The American War Cemeteries
The overseas American war cemeteries, in their aim to achieve "soft power" or cultural diplomacy during the mid-century, created high-value commissions in the American art world. The sought-after commissions resulted in an internal struggle between artists practicing traditional figural Classicism and the avant-garde who had adopted expressionism and abstraction. Additionally, a surging political stream of anti-Communism made artists vulnerable, because modern art seemed to underscore Communism's abandonment of religion. By adopting demagoguery as political strategy, McCarthyists escalated the perception of Communism as present in the United States by targeting American culture, including artists of the American war cemeteries. Describing the struggles surrounding the creation of the cemeteries, this essay takes into account the artists' biographies, statements, and actions, arguing that their art-making was not only critical in creating international diplomacy, but also in sustaining American freedom, particularly within an era of American political suspicion.
Wally's War. The WW2 North African Campaign Diaries of Walter von Schramm of the NZ Graves Registration & Enquiries Unit
Post Mortem: North Africa's WWII Military Cemeteries Post War
2024 •
Mike SEAGER THOMAS
One of the lesser-known World War II UK and Dominion Forces unit types was the Graves Registration and Enquiries Unit (GREU), or the Graves Registration Unit (GRU). These units were located behind the lines and were responsible for curating the war dead between their burial—theoretically by front line troops but not infrequently by GRUs themselves—and their concentration into permanent war cemeteries. This volume presents the wartime diaries of Walter (Wally) von Schramm, the Officer in Command of one such unit, the New Zealand Graves Registration and Enquiries Unit (NZGREU), during and immediately after the war's North African campaign. The diaries run from January 1941 to July 1943 and cover his journey from the UK to Egypt, his initial service in Egypt with a training battalion based at Maadi Camp outside Cairo, his service in Libya and Egypt with the NZGREU, and his return to New Zealand. Also included are a short essay on the work of GRUs in the Middle East and Africa, possibly written by him for the NZEF Times, a free newspaper produced for Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) personnel, a series of excerpts from his official unit War Diary, and an unattributed and undated protocol, apparently issued to him as Officer in Command of the NZGREU, outlining the duties of a GRU. Collectively, these forgotten and till now unstudied documents provide a unique insight into both the role of, and everyday life in, a GRU during and immediately after the campaign, revealing to us their attendant routines, frustrations, dangers, stresses and—at times—disgust and horror. In this way they add significantly to our knowledge and understanding of the campaign, and also of these essential, but lesser-known units. The present chapter considers the post war and possible future trajectory of the region's war cemeteries, including several of those on which Wally and his unit worked. The complete volume was published on ANZAC day 2024.
Revelations of an Empty Footlocker: The Brief Life of Lt. Edward Cutter, US Air Service
Johannes Allert
Karine Landry - Far and Near: The Repatriation and Overseas Burials of American Soldiers After World War I
Strata revue d'histoire des étudiants diplômés de l'Université d'Ottawa / Strata University of Ottawa Graduate Student History Review
Abstract - This article explores burial and repatriation policies of the World War I for American soldiers. With approximately 125,500 American soldiers killed during the war, American families were given the option of having the remains of their loved ones returned home at government cost, or having them buried in cemeteries overseas. This policy was unique to the United States, as the other allied nations did not offer repatriation to their citizens. I will argue that the American government favoured overseas burials since it best represented their postwar foreign policy of wanting to establish itself as a major international power. Conversely, repatriation was the option that best embodied the American foreign policy of 1914 and the domestic pressures of 1918. Analyzing this seemingly sympathetic option for families reveals the political angle behind the American burial practices at a time when the United States was becoming increasingly influential on the world stage. Résumé - Cet article explore les politiques funéraires et de rapatriement des dépouilles des soldats américains durant la Première Guerre mondiale. Avec un total approximatif de 125 500 soldats américains tués durant la guerre, l'option fut donnée aux familles américaines de rapatrier les dépouilles de leurs proches aux frais du gouvernement ou encore de les enterrer dans des cimetières outre-mer. Cette politique était unique aux États-Unis, puisque les autres nations alliées n'offraient pas le rapatriement des soldats tombés au front. Dans cet article, je démontrerai que le gouvernement américain favorisait les enterrements outre-mer puisque cela s'accordait mieux avec la politique étrangère de l'après-guerre qui visait à établir le pays comme un pouvoir international majeur. Inversem*nt, le rapatriement était une option qui représentait plutôt la politique étrangère américaine de 1914 et les pressions nationales de 1918. L'analyse de cette option en apparence compatissante pour les familles révèle un aspect politique sous-jacent aux pratiques funéraires à une époque où les États-Unis devenaient progressivement une puissance mondiale.
Bodily Matters Above and Below Ground: The Treatment of American Remains from the
Judith Keene
Abstract: Throughout most of the twentieth century, depending on the capabilities of the military mortuary services and the time limits set by government, the bodies of the Amer- ican fallen in foreign wars have been repatriated home to their families. In the Korean War the conditions of combat posed large challenges to the recovery and return of bod- ily remains. Almost half a century after that conflict, the American missing in Korea have become significant players within the government’s expanding efforts that were prompted in answer to demands to locate American soldiers who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War. The essay traces the background to U.S. military mortuary services and the operation in the Korean War and in the subsequent joint expeditions in North Korea. The analysis concludes that in most of these ventures the outlay of resources has produced few remains. Keywords: Korean War, wartime dead, return of human remains, U.S. Mortuary Service, POW/MIAs Korea.
2024 •
Mike SEAGER THOMAS
One of the lesser-known World War II UK and Dominion Forces unit types was the Graves Registration and Enquiries Unit (GREU), or the Graves Registration Unit (GRU). These units were located behind the lines and were responsible for curating the war dead between their burial—theoretically by front line troops but not infrequently by GRUs themselves—and their concentration into permanent war cemeteries. This volume presents the wartime diaries of the Officer in Command of one such unit, the New Zealand Graves Registration and Enquiries Unit (NZGREU), during and immediately after the war's North African campaign. The diaries run from January 1941 to July 1943 and cover his journey from the UK to Egypt, his initial service in Egypt with a training battalion based at Maadi Camp outside Cairo, his service in Libya and Egypt with the NZGREU, and his return to New Zealand. Also included are a short essay on the work of GRUs in the Middle East and Africa, possibly written by him for the NZEF Times, a free newspaper produced for Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) personnel, a series of excerpts from his official unit War Diary, and an unattributed and undated protocol, apparently issued to him as Officer in Command of the NZGREU, outlining the duties of a GRU. Collectively, these forgotten and till now unstudied documents provide a unique insight into both the role of, and everyday life in, a GRU during and immediately after the campaign, revealing to us their attendant routines, frustrations, dangers, stresses and—at times—disgust and horror. In this way they add significantly to our knowledge and understanding of the campaign, and also of these essential, but lesser-known units. The volume concludes with a postscript on the post war and possible future trajectory of the region's war cemeteries, including several of those on which Wally and his unit worked. The full text was published on Anzac Day 2024. A high resolution colour version of the book can be accessed via the link above.
Marine Corps history
Field Burials, Memorial Graves, and the Postwar Search for Tarawa’s Fallen
2022 •
Geoffrey W . Roecker
HAUNTED MODERNITY: Fallen Soldiers as Vehicles for the Fusion of Religion and the State at Yasukuni Shrine and Arlington National Cemetery
Leslie Katsman
The U.S. and Japan employ a discursive separation of religious belief and practice, and a downplaying or disavowal of the power of practice, to incorporate religion into the physical and ritual structures of national commemorative sites, despite constitutional mandates for separation of religion and state. This works to influence people’s beliefs and emotional investments to align with national agendas. More specifically, these states engage in the management of emotions surrounding the war dead to shape religious beliefs and attitudes to redirect grief from war losses into emotive fuel for patriotism, and hide these projects in plain sight though the use of material and ritual practices. The management and commemoration of war dead at Arlington National Cemetery and at Yasukuni Shrine bear this out.
