Iwo Jima Japanese graves

[Dan M]

This story was in today's local paper.

[Matt]

Graves discovered

I read this today also... I find it very interesting that the Japanese Gov't is still looking for bodies. I think there are still 218 missing US casualties as well as another 2000 Japanese on the island. I hope all of those heroes can be found some day!

[Jean-Loup]

My question is: what will the jaanese do with these bodies? As far as I understand, they do not make war cemeteries in the same way that westerners make them. Will the bodies be cremated or??
I hope they are also using this discovery to do some research on the causes of death, etc.

JL

[Dan M]

I believe that they cremate the remains. Years ago, I used to browse through the history books at the Walden bookstore during my lunch hour. There was a book on Iwo Jima that showed recently found Japanese remains being cremated. There was also an open letter to vets of Iwo Jima and their relatives about returning any skulls that may have been taken as souvenirs. There was something about needing a complete body for the soldier to go to his heavenly reward. I recall going to an estate sale and one of the early birds coming out with a small bag of Japanese gold teeth. I assume many skulls were destroyed for the teeth. Pretty damn gory but these are the things that happen in war.

[Jean-Loup]

Well, I can only hope that they do all the necessery anthropological observations before cremating the bodies, and thus destroying them and all information about them for good.
It seems a bit of a pitty to destroy something that has been preserved for 65 years, but if that is what the famillies want...

JL

[DennyB]

I cannot say if they did this on Iwo Jima but I have seen documentary film footage of bulldozers pushing piles of Japanese bodies into holes and burying them in that fashion. They also sealed up some caves where the Japanese had committed mass suicides so this may also be what they have found.

[JamesUS]

I read this story a couple days ago, wonder what took them so long to find them ?
It was handed back to Japan in the 1960's [I understand that there is a proviso that the USMC can go there anytime it pleases without asking permission].

These mass burial sites were undoubtedly the work of US forces, understandably seeking to get rid of rotting enemy corpses as soon as possible.
Their existence and location have been known for decades.

I wonder if there are some in Japan who argue that these remains should be left in peace ?

[Dan M]

A while back, I picked up a booklet put out by I think the US Air Force showing our peacetime installation and how the men stationed there lived and their amenities. Are there any forum members who might have served there post war? I like would to hear of your experiences or finds.

Thank You.