Old military remembrances

[Larry$]

Too cold to get out of the house. (-8°F) Was trading emails with some old guys and this came up.
Burial at sea. It was an eerie ritual. South China Sea off Vietnam. The carrier was brought into a tight circle with everything shut off. First time I had ever heard it so silent. The sea was flattened by the sweep of the ship. An aircraft elevator was lowered with the ceremonial group. Navy to tip the bodies in the canvas bags with flag covers, Taps bugler, Marine rifle squad, officers. All in their dress uniforms. As each body was tipped into the sea and the riffle salute fired, it was very emotionally striking. I watched the white body bags sink into the blue ocean. Old memories revisited.

 

[Cadillac]

Thank you for your service and sacrifices you’ve endured. I have a question they did not send the deceased home? what was the criteria for this? I’ve heard of this and never asked. My father was a Vietnam veteran very involved in the VFW till he passed. Would not talk of what happened.

 

[benmychree]

Thank you for your service and sacrifices you’ve endured. I have a question they did not send the deceased home? what was the criteria for this? I’ve heard of this and never asked. My father was a Vietnam veteran very involved in the VFW till he passed. Would not talk of what happened.

I'd guess that a ship on long deployment would not have morgue facilities to allow space for very many casualties; on land, they did bring the deceased back to the USA, one of my friends was a pilot of USAF cargo planes that flew them to the mainland after his service, he was a captain for US Air until retirement at age 60.

 

[Larry$]

I have a question they did not send the deceased home?

Bodies were flown off the carrier if the relatives requested their return. There were deaths from accidents on the flight deck. More suicides from depression than anything else. It was my job to investigate those & pack up their belongings. One death from an engine room fire. He was so well done he fell apart while we tried to get him in a body bag. Typical rubber body bags. They were stored in the refrigerated storage on the 8th deck down. I had a friend in the supply division that had keys to the storage. For late night ice cream! The freezer section was one space in from the refrigerated. Bodies were stored on the floor, had watch where you stepped. Months at sea tend to wear you down.

I'd guess that a ship on long deployment would not have morgue facilities

There were "Carrier Onboard" "COD" flights frequently bringing mail, people, parts etc. When there was room, bodies were flown to the PI, Clark Field. From there back to the states. No morgue on the ship, they were just refrigerated.

There were 5500 men aboard, it was crowded. Even w/o all the hazards there would likely be a death just from more or less natural causes. I was always surprised how few serious diseases were picked up in some of the places we were. We got 9 inoculations on the way across the Pacific. No needles just high pressure injectors, one from each side as you walked thru. There was a small hospital facility. If someone, on one of our escort ships, got really sick/hurt they would be highlined over to the carrier.

I bet a lot of guys on this site would enjoy seeing all the stuff inside of a carrier. Nice machine shop! Lots of interesting ship equipment. I was an officer in the engineering department.