doyler Posted June 26, 2019 Share #1 Posted June 26, 2019 Saw this posted today on the recovery of more Marines and Sailors from Tarawa.... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/battle-of-tarawa-graves-of-30-us-marines-sailors-found-on-pacific-world-war-ii-battlefield/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=69549398&fbclid=IwAR2NL6tN8YkxGVe4eKZnfbrGye4Hp-IaY28BoFfZ5E1AqZB5s88IaAvjAp8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattS Posted June 26, 2019 Share #2 Posted June 26, 2019 I could be wrong, but I believe we are the only nation in the world that puts forth this much effort to repatriate remains from WW2. A noble effort indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barickman Posted June 26, 2019 Share #3 Posted June 26, 2019 Yes, just saw the story too; just about ready to post the link myself. Ron and myself had the opportunity to talk with History Flight experts a few years ago and they do great work! Kurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted June 26, 2019 Share #4 Posted June 26, 2019 Wow. How cool that they still do that! Tarawa is an amazing story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted June 26, 2019 Share #5 Posted June 26, 2019 I could be wrong, but I believe we are the only nation in the world that puts forth this much effort to repatriate remains from WW2. A noble effort indeed. I think this has more to do with the fact that the U.S. had to travel so far. In the European Theatre, our allies were literally fighting in their backyard so it was not a long distance to get the bodies home. While there were allies in the Pacific Theatre, the USMC and US Army were the larger fighting units. It was much harder to get the bodies home during the island hopping of the Pacific Theatre. Kat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattS Posted June 26, 2019 Share #6 Posted June 26, 2019 Our WW2 MIA numbers are tiny compared to the Soviets: "He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action. Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified, he said. Remains are still being found across western Russia and other ex-Soviet republics." https://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_wires/2009Jan27/0,4675,EURussiaSiegeAnniversary,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted June 26, 2019 Share #7 Posted June 26, 2019 Our WW2 MIA numbers are tiny compared to the Soviets: "He said that more than 2.4 million people are still officially considered missing in action. Of the 9.5 million buried in mass graves, 6 million are unidentified, he said. Remains are still being found across western Russia and other ex-Soviet republics." True. Russia had a huge loss of life in WWII. The Battle of Stalingrad alone had 1.5 million casualties. I am not sure if you are trying to compare Russia losses to this effort of trying to recover remains In the Pacific. In my opinion, it is a completely different scenario trying to identify 6 million bodies in mass graves to searching for bodies on a remote island. Both are important in their own right but very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattS Posted June 26, 2019 Share #8 Posted June 26, 2019 No, I'm not making a comparison except for the lack of effort by the Russians to recover and identify their war dead as compared to ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted June 27, 2019 Share #9 Posted June 27, 2019 No, I'm not making a comparison except for the lack of effort by the Russians to recover and identify their war dead as compared to ours. You said "not making a comparison" and " as compared to ours" in the same sentence. ? I know you are trying to talk about their lack of effort but you cannot compare the two at all. Can you imagine the logistics of trying to run DNA comparisons to identify 6 million bodies? It would take years and cost millions. Entire families were wiped out. It may be impossible to identify a majority of the bodies. You have to compare the cost against the results. It is just not feasible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share #10 Posted June 27, 2019 Nice to see another topic had turned into a debate instead of just honoring the work by those involved or honoring the ones recovered. Mods just delete this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Posted June 27, 2019 Share #11 Posted June 27, 2019 Consistent theme Doyler. I thought the forum guidelines were that you commented on the topic, not other member posts. Seems like a lot of topics are turning into debates lately - add to this the MOH bill, and the WWI memorial getting vandalized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted June 27, 2019 Share #12 Posted June 27, 2019 Consistent theme??? Do you know how many threads on here evolve into discussions and debates? It happens EVERY day on this forum! We were discussing how all countries try to honor their casualties. There were no harsh words said to each other. It was a discussion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattS Posted June 27, 2019 Share #13 Posted June 27, 2019 And I've been married long enough to know debating a woman is dangerous! My initial statement still stands, of all the combatant countries in WW2, I believe the USA puts forth the most effort to bringing these boys home and it is a noble effort. By DoD estimates, there are still 72,000 of them out there unaccounted for. Many will never be found, but we won't stop searching. https://www.dpaa.mil/Our-Missing/World-War-II/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutiger83 Posted June 27, 2019 Share #14 Posted June 27, 2019 And I've been married long enough to know debating a woman is dangerous! My initial statement still stands, of all the combatant countries in WW2, I believe the USA puts forth the most effort to bringing these boys home and it is a noble effort. Your wife has taught you well! Hahaha! ? I completely agree that this is a very noble act. I also agree that the U.S. puts forth more effort than other countries. I just believe that the reason is logistics. It doesn't mean we care more or less than other countries. Just that there are many factors to the reasons. As I said, I commend these groups for providing closure to so many families. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy vs Spy Posted June 28, 2019 Share #15 Posted June 28, 2019 Doyler, thanks for posting the OP. Much appreciated. Best Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharfmaster Posted July 13, 2019 Share #16 Posted July 13, 2019 Good news, bring um all home. It would have been a lot easier in 1945. Wharf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hochiminhtrail Posted July 13, 2019 Share #17 Posted July 13, 2019 Germans do a lot to recover the remains of missing a KIA, they have representative in the east who do collect bodies. But you can not compare the USA and Russia and Germany as the numbers of KIA and MIA are too far aparart, even between Russia and Germany the numbers are on a different scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted November 11, 2019 Share #18 Posted November 11, 2019 Saw this posted today on the recovery of more Marines and Sailors from Tarawa.... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/battle-of-tarawa-graves-of-30-us-marines-sailors-found-on-pacific-world-war-ii-battlefield/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=69549398&fbclid=IwAR2NL6tN8YkxGVe4eKZnfbrGye4Hp-IaY28BoFfZ5E1AqZB5s88IaAvjAp8 . Hello Ron, thank you for bringing to our attention the recovery of Marines and Sailors from Tarawa. I would just like to highlight the work of this department of the government that works hard to find, recover and name as many servicemen's bodies as possible from all conflicts no matter which date or which war . . . . . . . . . https://www.dpaa.mil/ lewis. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted November 13, 2019 Author Share #19 Posted November 13, 2019 Seems the Russians are searching as well....stated in the video that some have looked for 30 years and others are new members Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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