Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen

As a military psychologist, I will recommend this book to all of my colleagues. This book has much more than just how we handle the dead. It is rich with details about military culture, what goes on in combat, and how people respond to the stressors of combat. But the author does a wonderful job of not pathologizing behavior that someone without military experience might not understand.

Although death in war is usually a grisly subject, the author has handled it with a compassion and reverence that helps us put a human face on the ultimate act of sacrifice of our military. He does not dwell on the macabre, instead giving a very poignant account of the social aspects of death. "Soldier Dead" gives insight in to our culture and values in dealing with "casualties", and how media treatment of this subject has changed over the years--one example being turning a human "Soldier Dead" into a euphemistic "casualty". The author compassionately maintains focus on the fact that a Soldier Dead is a person, not a faceless "troop", as well as examining the social aspects of soldiers giving their lives for a cause, and how it affects their comrades and families. I recommend this to those interested in the human costs of war, as well as those seeking insight in to how our society deals with death in general. Certainly any leader who puts our soldiers in harm's way should read this book. Although war can sometimes be a necessary evil, our society should never be allowed to ignore the the human cost.

Having served in Graves Registration during the Korean War I have an appreciation for the content in Mr. Sledge's book. He has accomplished some serious research on the subject of how we recover, identify, bury and honor our military fallen. For me the book provides a true picture of this country's efforts to do its best for our military dead. It is backed up with detailed references, index and notes. To my knowledge this book is a primer for anyone wishing to know more about the subject. Lynn H. Hahn Served with the 148th Graves Registation Company in Korea, 1952-53

I would just like to say that I was honored to have my family featured in this book. My father SMSGT Paul Buege was killed in the Gulf War, and my family went through many struggles and fights with the military to honor my father in the way we wished. This book is excellent in helping the general public realize ways in which the military handles fallen heros returning home, in good and not so good ways. Brian Buege

One thing with which the military has had a lot of experience is handling the dead. Over time the procedures have changed, the reverence and dignity shown to the dead and to their survivors has increased. The amount of effort expended to find and identify any remains has grown significantly down through the years to include the latest scientific techniques. We have come a long way since the soldiers at Cold Harbor wrote their names on pieces of paper and attached them to their backs for later identification purposes. This book is the story of how the American military treats their dead. It is a book filled with pathos intermixed with cold facts. Some of the stories told reflect the horror of the situations, some tell of times when the procedures failed and the survivors were not treated as well as they could have been. After all, the military is filled with people just like the rest of us, some less capable than others. To go with this book there are a couple of other recommendations: First the book: 'Shane Comes Home',the true story of the return of a body from Iraq. Second the movie 'Saving Private Ryan' which is based on a true story of one GI returned from combat after all of his brothers were killed, and showes the effort that the military can expend. I really don't know how to rate this book. It is supurb in what it does, but what it does not not very plesant.