ep 11: Bringing Out The Dead

e11 Cover ArtWhat happens to the bodies after a battle? This is an aspect of military life that often goes unnoticed because we’re more focused on the living. Still, we can’t just ignore those killed on the battlefield. And thanks to the Grave Registration Service (what is now Mortuary Affairs), they’re not forgotten. These professionals ensure those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice are treated with dignity, reverence, and respect.

And they do! Just ask Kevin Bacon!

The Grave Registration Service (GRS) has been around for more than 100 years. A fella by the name of Charles C. Pierce, a colonel and chaplain in the US Army, was given the responsibility of caring for the dead on the Western Frontier in the 1890s. During the Spanish American War (1899-1903) he headed the Office of Identification and U.S. Army Morgue in Manila, where he perfected new techniques for identifying the war dead, maintaining accurate records and transferring embalmed remains stateside for proper burial. He further perfected technique and process on the battlefields of WWI and was recognized for his efforts by none other than General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing. Colonel Pierce has come to be known as the father of today’s Mortuary Affairs.

Today, Mortuary Affairs is responsible for retrieval, identification, transportation, and burial of American soldiers. And what’s more is they do their job with ceremony, paying honors to these brave men and women every step of the way. To these professionals, it’s much more than a job…it’s more like a calling. Their creed is ‘Dignity, Reverence, Respect.’

An unrelated organization that also plays a major role ion recovering our war dead is the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) This is a direct reporting unit at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and its mission is to provide the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from past conflicts to their families and the nation. They provide a seemingly endless search for the more than 81,000 warriors still missing from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf Wars, and other recent conflicts. This mission takes them around the world in search of the fallen. Their motto is “Until they are home”.

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Sources:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ccpierce.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortuary_Affairs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_POW/MIA_Accounting_Command

https://www.dpaa.mil/

https://www.med-dept.com/articles/quartermaster-graves-registration-service/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019454/

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-24/42-73242.html

https://www.stripes.com/one-final-trip-remains-from-1944-india-crash-site-coming-home-to-us-1.403570

https://www.stripes.com/so-many-questions-botched-recovery-mission-didn-t-follow-jpac-s-own-protocol-1.271273

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Recent-News-Stories/Article/795025/paving-the-way-for-future-recovery-operations-in-myanmar/

http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/oxford12.1.15.html#.Xc9hmFdKiUk

http://pikecountytimes.com/secondary/oxford12.13.14.html#.Xc9h0ldKiUl

Lt Alvin Granbach obituary
Lt Alvin Granbach obituary
Chris and Jody are Air Force vets who enjoy military history and folklore. They have a podcast. They tell stories. They digress. A lot.

1 thought on “ep 11: Bringing Out The Dead

  1. I took my 10-year-old son to see Midway the other day and they showed the preview for the Pitsenbarger movie. He seemed pretty excited about it and on the way home asked if we could go see it. I told him about the great podcast you did on Pitsenbearger and asked him if he wanted to listen to it. He said “can’t we just see the movie?” I LOL’d. Anyway, just thought I’d share my story. I’m enjoying your podcast; keep ’em coming.

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