US Military Searches German Battlefields for Fallen Soldiers

Skybird · 09-09-08, 07:05 PM

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...577244,00.html

Hm. I'm split over this. After that long time, maybe one should let them rest. Tastes a bit like trophy-hunting.

RickC Sniper · 09-09-08, 07:12 PM

I'm not split over it.

Enough time has passed. Let them rest in peace.

Platapus · 09-09-08, 07:23 PM

That is a tough moral question, but I also lean toward letting the dead rest in peace.

If, during some excavation remains are uncovered, then an effort can be made to recover. But not to go out hunting.

"Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare To digg the dust enclosed here Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones And curst be he yt moves my bones". (Inscription on Shakespeare's tomb, Stratford-upon-Avon).

August · 09-09-08, 07:40 PM

For the cost of just three longbow helicopters a year we fulfill a promise to our troops that we will never forget them, that we will always keep trying to find them and bring them home. It's a small, tiny, minuscule price to pay, imo.

bookworm_020 · 09-10-08, 12:23 AM

We have gone through the same question here in Australia (and England to some extent as well) They discovered pits which the germans had buried the bodies of Australian and British Dead after the battle of Fromels in WW1.

It has been decided to try and identify the remains found and reintern them (either at the same location where they were found or in nearby war cemetaries). IT was consided that the least they could do was to try and identify them and give some closure to families, but the bodies to remain in France.

Zero Niner · 09-10-08, 01:01 AM

I don't think there's anything ignoble about this. It's a sanctioned effort to discover the remains of the many MIAs of the war, not a trophy-hunting expedition.

So long as they (the remains) are treated with honour & dignity, I think it is perfectly reasonable. And I think there'll be some who are grateful.

Quote:

She even knows for whom she is doing the work. The pilot's mother is still waiting, back in Texas. She has spent 64 years hoping for certainty about the fate of her son.

Quoted from the article that Skybird linked.

09-09-08, 07:05 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,657 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	US Military Searches German Battlefields for Fallen Soldiers http://www.spiegel.de/international/...577244,00.html Hm. I'm split over this. After that long time, maybe one should let them rest. Tastes a bit like trophy-hunting. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

09-09-08, 07:12 PM	#2
RickC Sniper Undetectable Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,221 Downloads: 132 Uploads: 0	I'm not split over it. Enough time has passed. Let them rest in peace. __________________ Support Subsim http://www.subsim.com/store.html

09-09-08, 07:23 PM	#3
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 19,379 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	That is a tough moral question, but I also lean toward letting the dead rest in peace. If, during some excavation remains are uncovered, then an effort can be made to recover. But not to go out hunting. "Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare To digg the dust enclosed here Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones And curst be he yt moves my bones". (Inscription on Shakespeare's tomb, Stratford-upon-Avon). __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

09-09-08, 07:40 PM	#4
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 23,215 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	For the cost of just three longbow helicopters a year we fulfill a promise to our troops that we will never forget them, that we will always keep trying to find them and bring them home. It's a small, tiny, minuscule price to pay, imo. __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

09-10-08, 12:23 AM	#5
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	We have gone through the same question here in Australia (and England to some extent as well) They discovered pits which the germans had buried the bodies of Australian and British Dead after the battle of Fromels in WW1. It has been decided to try and identify the remains found and reintern them (either at the same location where they were found or in nearby war cemetaries). IT was consided that the least they could do was to try and identify them and give some closure to families, but the bodies to remain in France. __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

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