I thought this was a very interesting read. A soldier wrote about his experience burying the dead at Normandy after D-Day. It’s long and slow in some places, but it’s a very good read from a perspective I haven’t thought about before. Here’s a couple of excerpts.
For the first time in my life I touched a dead man. I grabbed the leg of one of the bodies and rolled it off onto the ground. As I struggled, the drivers gave in and assisted me with the remainder of the bodies. There were now 14 dead lying in a row and more loaded vehicles were driving into the field.
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Once everyone had his assignment and was digging, I began the job of processing bodies. There were plenty of parachutes in the field, so nylon parachute panels served as personal effects bags and body bags. Each body was searched and all personal effects were secured, but no inventory was taken. A ruled tablet served as Graves Registration Form No. 1. Both identification tags were left with the body until it was ready to be placed into a grave. One tag stayed with the body after burial and the other was attached to the stake that served as a grave marker.
Also, I had no idea the Coast Guard was a part of D-Day.
