What happens to all the dead bodies after a war?

After being stripped of their belongings the dead, and occasionally still barely living, would often be buried in mass graves (sometimes with bodies from both sides unceremoniously thrown in). However, there are accounts of battles where thousands of bodies were simply left to the elements.

What does the military do with dead bodies?

Mortuary Affairs is a service within the United States Army Quartermaster Corps tasked with the retrieval, identification, transportation, and burial of deceased American and American-allied military personnel. The Air Force has a similar facility at Dover AFB in Delaware.

What happened to the dead bodies during the Civil War?

The burial parties put the bodies in shallow graves or trenches near where they fell — sometimes Union and Confederate soldiers together. Others, found by their comrades, were given proper burials in marked graves.

Who buried the dead soldiers during the Civil War?

In the Union army, black contrabands accompanying the army usually got this job, burying the dead with their uniforms, under cloths or in pine boxes as time and available resources allowed.

What did they do with dead bodies in ww2?

The dead was usually buried right where they fell, and as soon as possible. Burying them was more important than the war itself because piles of rotting bodies would’ve caused plagues and decimated both sides. For this reason the opponents sometimes declared a ceasefire only to bury the dead.

Where do bodies go after war?

After being stripped of their belongings the dead, and occasionally still barely living, would often be buried in mass graves (sometimes with bodies from both sides unceremoniously thrown in).

What happens to the dead bodies of US soldiers in war?

If casualties numbers climb too high to continue this, the DoD will authorize temporary cemeteries. That really depends. The dead of the victors on any given battlefield would be retrieved and cataloged, and buried with great dignity. In the case of the Allies in France, for instance, they were buried in massive national cemeteries.

Were bodies left to rot on battlefields?

Bodies would also be left to rot on the battlefield. Daniell says that it “was very rare for a person not to be buried” but that one major exception was when bodies were left to rot on battlefields. If the battle was very large or if the winning side wanted to disrespect the bodies of the fallen enemy, they would simply leave them to rot.

How did they find bodies in WW1?

Sometimes the bodies would be buried were they had fallen, or placed into mass graves, especially if ground was constantly being lost/ regained, such as the Western Front. War graves team were dispatched to secured battlefields to find and identify bodies that had been buried, using records and journals of the officers in command.

Why was it important to bury the dead in the war?

Answer Wiki. The dead was usually buried right where they fell, and as soon as possible. Burying them was more important than the war itself because piles of rotting bodies would’ve caused plagues and decimated both sides. For this reason the opponents sometimes declared a ceasefire only to bury the dead.