Evening star., 1947-04-13
Guide for
Veterans
By Moj. Thomos N. Mol

The War Department has COM
pleted plans for bringing back the
bodies of the soldiers, sailors and
marines who gave "the last full
measure OF devotion" in the war.
And right now this column is
going to try to kill an ugly rumor
which has attached itself to those
plans.
Word has gotten around that this
job Is likely to be bungled.
The Graves Registration Service,
operating under the Quartermaster
Corps of the Army, is responsible
for the war dead OF all branches OF
the service. The rurnor is that
these graves registration units
aren't too careful about identifica-
ton of bodies, and, as a final knife
twist, that German or Jap dead
may be substituted to cover mis-
takesi
This is familiar cry to those who
remember the worrymongers after
World War I. 1t didn't have any
more truth to 1t then than 1t does
now, but still it makes relatives OF
World War II dead just as uneasy.
Under an act of Congress the
Army has the responsibility Of re-
turning the bodies of all war dead,
IL the next of kin request it. The
Quartermaster Corps Of the Army
now Is sending out questionnaires to
next of kin Offering them the choice
of having the body G> inferred in
a permanent overseas United States
cemetery or (2) returned to the
United States for burial. Thousands
OF relatives have requested the lat
ter. Thousands more will do so.
Wild and unfounded runors about
what might happen in the process
aren't making their ordeal any
easier.
Biggest worry on the minds of
relatives is the inevitable question,
How do I know the War Depart
ment won't make a mistake in iden-
tification?" The Army's answer is
this: An elaborate identification
system and an iron-clad policy
which permits no case to be closed
until positive Identification has been
made-beyond any doubt.
Most war dead were identified
Immediately on the battlefield,
through dog tags or other means.
The location of their graves Is care
fully recorded.
The dead who could not be posi-
lively identified were classified as
unknown" Whenever possible care
full records were prepared giving
grave locations and every available
clue toward Identification. Identi-
flying these ''unknowns" is the job
of the Graves Registration Service.
All modern methods Of identifica-
ton, from fingerprints to clyoro-
scopes, are used.
With help from the FBI, special
Identification teams gather all the
evidence in each case and send it
to q central Identification point.
These points are being set up in the
old combat areas to coordinate in
formation and forward it to board
Of officers in the Quartermaster
Generals Off1ce for final ruling on
the Identification.
No clue is overlooked. Dental
examinations, laundry marks, rings,
fragments of letters and statements
of eyewitnesses are painstakingly
gathered and pieced together. Any
claimed Identification Is based on a
combination of evidence, never on
single clue.
Every cemetery has been surveyed
and based on indestructible land
marks. Every cemetery is subdivided
into sections and plots. With no
more to go on than the landmarks
and the original plans. the survey
teams could reconstruct the entire
cemetery and locate any grave, says
the War Department.
The War Department knows the
damage to public. confidence single
error could cause. Every effort Is
being made to eliminate errors.
Count on it.