Evening star., 1948-03-08
Escorts Of War Dead
Get Real Satisfaction
In Parents Gratitude

KANSAS CITY, (NANA The
people of a small town thronged
around railroad station to make a
picture that will always be remem-
bered by the 200 young men at the
Quartermaster Depot here who act
as military escorts for the bodies Of
the dead of World War II being sent
to Midwestern homes for reburial.
: It is the display of patriotism and
responsibility in the small towns
throughout the Middle West that
gives soul-tingling satisfaction to
the escort.
when you look from the railroad
car and see the quiet crowd waiting
to bury one of their war dead, you
know that this job you're doing is
the most important work of the
Army these days." the sergeant said.
tits an honor to be an escort"
Re-enlisted as Sergeant.
Sergt. Walter Mcfarland Is Is
years old. He fought for three years
as a lieutenant in q tank-destroyer
outfit with the First Army in Ger
many. After being discharged he
returned home to Topeka. Last
summer he re-enlisted as a sergeant
and after learning he could not go
overseas Immediately volunteered
for escort duty and passed the rigid
qualifications.
"You REMINDER the towns" he
said, that locked up and turned
out in force for the funeral. 1t
doesn't take long to learn that the
J persons opposed to bringing home
the dead usually are those who have
9 no dead to bring home"
The sergeant's implication that
most parents want their sons re-
turned is borne out by figures COM
piled by the American Graves Reg
istration Service. About rs per cent
of the survivors have requested the
reburial at home Of their slain
soldiers.
There were 358, ,967 overseas World
War II fatalities. The Graves Serv-
ice estimated there were 56,213 un-
recovered bodies which were those
lost or buried at sea or cases in
which the circumstances of the
death were unknown. About 80 per
cent of the total dead are expected
to be recovered. Approximately "a
per cent Of the recovered dead have
been positively identified.
Escorts Are Volunteers.
The escorts have volunteered for
their duty. Most of them have
overseas records. They are selected
only after they have passed through
careful screening. The escorts must
possess the proper personality and
aptitude for sympathetic human re-
lations. The escorts attend school
before being assigned to duty.
The body always is accompanied
by an escort from the same branch
of the service and of equal or higher
rank.
At the completion Of each trip,
the escort makes a report to his
Tgroup so that the pointers he has
picked up can be used to increase
the effectiveness Of the general
plan. Unusual and delicate situa-
tions are encountered.
: A regulation strictly forbids an
escort to accept a gift from the
survivors. But this rule was an
obstacle recently when a sergeant
accompanied the body of an Usage
Indian to a small Oklahoma town.
A tribal custom, DEGREES that any
man who had befriended the dead
Indian must accept gift of either
D horse or a blanket from the In
riian's family. The undertaken
handling the funeral explained the
serious nature of the Indian custom. F
After receiving telegraphed permis-
sion from his commanding officer
the sergeant received blanket.
Flag Presentation Problem.
. On another occasion, an escort was
by the problem of who
was to receive the flag draped over
the casket. Regulations stipulated
that it be given to the immediate
next of kin. In this case, the mother
was the next of kin. She wanted
the flag and so did the soldiers for