Friday, May 28, 2010

How We Bury the War Dead
Bringing fallen troops home is a fairly modern idea. Today, the military sees it as a sacred duty
by Yochi J. Dreazen and Gary Fields
Wall Street Journal

The U.S. military didn't always bring home its dead. In the Seminole Indian Wars in the early 1800s, most of the troops were buried near where they fell. The remains of some dead officers were collected and sent back to their families, but only if the men's relatives paid all of the costs. Families had to buy and ship a leaded coffin to a designated military quartermaster, and after the body had been disinterred, they had to cover the costs of bringing the coffin home.

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