Description
Dissects the politics of commemoration of soldiers, veterans, and relatives from WWIThe United States lost thousands of troops during World War I, and the government gave next-of-kin a choice about what to do with their fallen loved ones: ship them home for burial or leave them permanently in Europe, in makeshift graves that would be eventually transformed into cemeteries in France, Belgium, and England. World War I marked the first war in which the United States government and military took full responsibility for the identification, burial, and memorialization of those killed in battle, and as a result, the process of burying and remembering the dead became intensely political. The government and military attempted to create a patriotic consensus on the historical memory of World War I in which war dead were not only honored but used as a symbol to legitimize America’s participation in a war not fully supported by all citizens.The saga of American soldiers killed in World War I and the efforts of the living to honor them is a neglected component of United States military history, and in this fascinating yet often macabre account, Lisa M. Budreau unpacks the politics and processes of the competing interest groups involved in the three core components of commemoration: repatriation, remembrance, and return. She also describes how relatives of the fallen made pilgrimages to French battlefields, attended largely by American Legionnaires and the Gold Star Mothers, a group formed by mothers of sons killed in World War I, which exists to this day. Throughout, and with sensitivity to issues of race and gender, Bodies of War emphasizes the inherent tensions in the politics of memorialization and explores how those interests often conflicted with the needs of veterans and relatives.
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Death and remembrance in the aftermath of the Great WarBy the Armistice of 1919, America's war dead numbered more than 70,000 and of those, approximately 31,000 would lie forever buried in the nation's new cemeteries overseas. The controversial decision to leave the deceased in foreign soil resulted in the unforeseen legacy of the Gold Star Pilgrim. On the eve of the Great Depression, the Coolidge Administration authorized the Gold Star Mothers and widows with next of kin buried overseas, to travel to Europe as guests of the nation. These women, known for the gold star they were urged to display on banners in their homes, had made an added sacrifice by choosing to leave the bodies of their loved ones buried in foreign soil. They had been given an unprecedented option by the government to have their deceased repatriated for home burial, but refused without prior knowledge of any future pilgrimage proposal. Pilgrimages represent a point of intersection between individual loss and national community. They serve to unite groups and nation in remembrance, while offering an opportunity for participants to come to terms with grief, thus consigning the dead to memory. The American Gold Star pilgrimages (1930-1933), offered women and the nation, a unique way to interpret the ambiguity of great human loss.In this fascinating yet often macabre account, Lisa M. Budreau reveals the complicated circumstances facing the nation after World War I, in its efforts to lay thousands of dead to rest, and how its leaders chose to honor these American sacrifices. She unpacks the politics and processes of the competing interest groups involved in the three core components of this story: repatriation, remembrance, and return. Throughout, and with sensitivity to issues of race and gender, Bodies of War emphasizes the inherent tensions in the politics of memorialization while exploring how those interests often conflicted with the needs of veterans, relatives and the nation as a whole.
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