Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-06-11

PARIS BY Airnail - Prom
Nornandy's slashy beaches 10 the
EIbe and the Mode, America )
90 900 dead IN Western Europe
during the last var Who viii re-
main forever overseas are being
gathered IN 10 great graveyarcs
out Of the scattered hiyouacs
where they briefly have rested.
At first there were 81 American
cemeteries They were laid out
near the sites OF the oloodiest ac-
tons. From them all the bodies
now have been exhuned and are
being reburied as rapidly as pos
sible in permanent sites They
include the known and the un-
known. There still are about 5000
still listed as missing in action
In Europe-35.o 900 all over the
world. There can be no doubt
that 90 per cent Of these are dead
The rest may be considered as de-
serters. amnesia cases and the
like. For years TO come. few
viii continue TO show up alive.
Utmost efforts are being made
by the Army's Graves ReSistra-
ton Service. not only TO locate
every American grave. but TO
identify positively each dead SOL
der. After World War ! such
Identification depended largely on
the dog tags" Now these are
given very little weight. It is well
known that men were careless
about them. They even traded.
especially in the Air Forces. for
lucky numbers. But meticulous
teeth charts. records Of scars. old
broken limbs and the like were
made OF every man indicted into
the service. These now are
proving OF tnestimable value in
the Identification work. Still there
remain several thousand bodies
for which there Is no possibility
Of Identification. They always viii
remain unknown soldiers" and
from among them one may finally
be selected as the Unknown Sol
der Of World War II.
Two In Normandy.
Two OF the 10 permanent GEM
eterieS will be among the hedge
rows of Normandy where approx
lmately 10000 were killed. One Is
well under way and the dead have
been collected there from nine
temporary cemeteries. It will be
the last resting place OF those who
died in the Omaha and Utah
landings. the taking Of Cherbourg
and st. Lo and the initial phases
of the great breakthrough.
A group Of war correspondents
who covered the landings and the
early days Of the Normandy cam
Ipaign were taken TO see this great
cemetery. planned for S,527 graves.
just before the fifth anniversary
Of D-day. Among those already
buried here are 1t. Gen. Leslie J.
McNair. chief Of Army Ground
Forces. who was killed by a mis-
directed bomb the day before the
breakthrough. and Brig. Gen.
Theodore Roosevelt. jr.. assistant
commander Of the 4th Division,
who died shortly after the taking
of Cherbourg. At brief ceremony
a wreath of Normandy hydrangeas
was placed over the grave Of
George B. Irwin Of the Associated
Press. the only correspondent
killed in the landings whose body
will remain overseas.
The cemetery Is a little east Of
Omaha Beach and a few hundred
yards inland from the sea. Even
tually, when the reburials are
completed and the site is land
scaped 1t will be beautiful spot.
Just now. quite naturally. 1t seems
terribly desolate and cold. but a
single years blanket OF green grass
will give 1t an entirely different
appearance. Until few days
before. admission had been strictly
prohibited. Henceforth close rela-
tives OF dead soldiers will be al
lowed to visit the graves after 1t
has been explained to them that
they almost certainly will be hurt
by the present desolation.
Standard markers, white wooden
crosses, are placed over each grave
as the burial Is completed. They
are the same for private and gen.