What Happens to All the Bodies After Major World Wars

Tens of millions of soldiers lost their lives during the two world wars. That’s an almost unimaginable number of corpses - So what happened to them? Did they get sent home or buried in dehumanizing mass graves out on the battlefields? And how did we develop our attitudes, laws, and rules around the bodies of soldiers who die in war?

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[jameshughes]

I wondered why this was taken down so quick last time they uploaded it ?

[niknah]

I remember visiting a war cemetery in Bangladesh for British soldiers. It was the cleanest place in the whole country. They still pay for the up keep today

[YodaBSith]

Spartans "preferred to bury their fallen soldiers on the battlefield."
Yet we've always heard that Spartan women told their war-bound husbands, "Return with your shield, or on it."

[zachfinemusic]

It is so sad and unfair what us humans do to each other. War is evil.

[fatguy]

Suicides also count for full honors burial in the US which isn’t so uncommon

[JimBeshears]

You forgot about the ossuary at Douamont in France. The building was built and the lower floor filled with skeletons of unidentified soldiers.

[raymondmartin]

While I was a USAir Force Personnel
Officer from 1969 to 1973, during the
Vietnam Era, we rotated being on
Next of Kin notification duty on the
weekends, which while difficult was
not too often done in our part of
the USAF.
I am 80 years old and a 100% Disabled
American Veteran today. 😮

[ProfessorJayTee]

I once met a "conscientious objector" for Vietnam who was left unarmed, never trained for combat, but assigned to Graves Registration instead. One year of that, instead of one year in combat. I'd rather not repeat his stories, though.

[xzlmvws]

Like many people who are interested in history, there's always been references to all aspects of wars like strategy, logistics, armament, and heroism to name the many. However, in all my years, there's never been any show or movie dedicated to how the war dead are handled and buried. Infographics is the first I've ever seen on this barely known topic. Thanks you.

[Pheorize]

Thanks for making this video, it's was a really good counterbalance to all of the usual (and popular, as I find it interesting myself, so this is not a critique) "look how large this military is" or "this weapon is awesome!" sort of videos.

It really gives a good view on the human side and the worth of every single human behind all of these numbers of killed soldiers...

[kennethcurtis]

One step, at the unit level, is that the outpost with the fallen soldier goes into what's known as a "Communications Blackout". This way the proper process of notification is done properly. Nobody wants to be told by a soldier on the ground. So the military cuts off the phones/internet so we don't circumvent the process.

[bekkatheman]

My great uncle served in the RAF during WWII. His plane was shot down over Belgium, he was buried there in Belguim.

[corymorimacori]

“Let’s face it, you’re not all that great! You tossed away lives in Gallipoli like they were scraps off your plate! You should be ashamed of your military honor!” Theodore Roosevelt

[kj]

Fun fact

During world war II the recovery of bodies were done majority by African American soldiers. They don't teach this in history books. But that job was given to African Americans for the obvious reasons they were listed in this video.

During world war II there was a lot of races and white military leaders felt the African Americans wouldn't make good soldiers. They said things like their color blind and wouldn't be good in a battle.

That is why they were left with the task of recovering bodies of fallen GIs. I've seen some documentaries on this in the past.

Some of the black soldiers stated that they had severe PTSD and lifelong trauma from the things they've seen by recovering dead soldiers.

Along with recovering bodies African American soldiers responsible for logistics, basically loading trucks and making sure things got to where they were supposed to be.

[BlenderStudy]

Thank you for the update, The Infographics Show..!! May they rest in peace.. :(

[sppj]

When are the challenge videos coming back we all miss those and the I survived nuclear war series

[runerafell]

Eyy u finally made THE VIDEO not private 😂 i got 2 sekunds off it and BAM! "THIS VIDEO IS PRIVATE" ❤😂

[BluegrassKnight]

If anyone thinks this is a pointless or unnecessary job, has never lost a loved one in war!

[godkingathleticsllc]

It is so Mind-blowing and bizarre that humans thought and still think that this behavior is a proper response to disagreements.

It's as if these nations didn't realize that we all are from the same planet. As if the land within these imaginary lines we draw on Earth are more important to us than human life.


Some of us look at wars of old with disdain, disgust, and are sadden by the thought that this actually took place and can happen again. Others look at this in awe and see glory while longing for moments like this to return.

[jk-mmto]

Fallen soldiers must be returned to their homeland.