Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Recovering bodies in war

Depends on the war and the circumstances
TB — (archived)

The military outfit I'm talking about seeks out lost remains from past battles or aircraft crashes, where the bodies concerned often involve unresolved missing persons. DNA analysis is often used. Even finding dogtags or small amounts of remains is enough for closure for most families.

I don't know about how bodies of enemies were treated during WWII, but in the current conflict, the bodies of U.S. troops are often subjected to horrible desecrations when they fall into enemy hands. Recovery may be considered a more important issue, and I assume military personnel handle the risk issue on a case-by-case basis.

Sailors were routinely buried at sea during wartime, and nobody was particularly bothered by it (as far as I know.) Casualties were often too many to work with otherwise. I suspect (no data) that during peacetime missions on large modern ships, a victim of accident or natural death is probably kept on ice in the medical facility until it can be returned to the family later.

I concede that unless space vehicles are large enough to have similar facilities, maybe burial in space might be the most practical solution.

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