Stateside funerals in the WW2 era?

[p51]

I just started wondering, how did people get to funerals during WW2 with gas rationing? I assume that hearses got decent gas ration stickers.
I'd also assume that most military funerals didn't have anyone playing taps or a 21-gun salute, due to the number of men being buried back then, unless it was very close to an existing military base?
Funny how you start pondering stuff like this when a question is posted to you. Someone on a model train site was asking me as he wants to model a solider's burial taking place in WW2.
I've already told him that unless the solider passed on in the states, he probably wouldn't have been buried in the US if he'd died overseas.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Undertakers were among the specific classes of people entitled to C cards, which entitled them to a special "supplemental ration" sufficient to take care of their business needs. The local ration board determined how much, exactly, that would be.

As far as civilian travel went, people were strongly encouraged not to do it. Funerals were kept simple and dignified, with as little pageantry as possible. Local American Legion or VFW men might form an honor guard, and it wasn't uncommon for a Boy Scout to play Taps.

 

[p51]

As far as civilian travel went, people were strongly encouraged not to do it. Funerals were kept simple and dignified, with as little pageantry as possible. Local American Legion or VFW men might form an honor guard, and it wasn't uncommon for a Boy Scout to play Taps.

I didn't even think of the boy scouts. As you suggested, funerals have gotten quite... showy in recent years.
As for civilian travel, I was quite aware of restrictions on travel by car or train back then.
The question just got me wondering. I can only assume that in those days, people simply didn't expect the entire family to show up for a funeral.
Must have been tough on the 'passive-aggressive Mom' types...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Must have been tough on the 'passive-aggressive Mom' types...

"Yeah, you and everybody else, Granny. Don't you know there's a war on??"

 

[Stanley Doble]

Military dead were buried overseas near where they died. Shipping bodies home for burial did not begin until the Vietnam era.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Unless they died stateside in training accidents. There were about 15,000 of those.

 

[p51]

"Yeah, you and everybody else, Granny. Don't you know there's a war on??"

Yeah, I suppose that 'whine until i get my way' shtick wasn't seen much before the era when people could get around easier than they could back in the day.
Makes you wonder what other guilt trips Moms did back then. I guess the thing was to keep everyone close to home from the start... If you look through enlistment records in WW2, the vast majority of soldiers signed up in the same town they were born in, which of course supports that few had ever left home before the war.

 

[Sharpsburg]

Many soldiers, like my Uncle, were killed overseas and buried there. Then the family had the option to have them returned to the states for reburial after the war. My uncle was reburied in WV in 1948, so there may have been fewer military funerals during the war than you might think.

 

[Big Man]

I don't have any information on military funerals during the war years, but my great grandfather died in 1943. I have the guest register from his funeral, and it is signed by almost 100 people. This was in a rather rural area, so a number of those attending had to travel at least a little distance to attend.

 

[p51]

I really wasn't asking about military funerals as such, as I already knew that other than stateside deaths, very few funerals for soldiers took place in the US during the war.

 

[Stearmen]

Many soldiers, like my Uncle, were killed overseas and buried there. Then the family had the option to have them returned to the states for reburial after the war. My uncle was reburied in WV in 1948, so there may have been fewer military funerals during the war than you might think.

I had a friend of the family, who's brother was killed over seas, they also had him brought back.

 

[Stearmen]

I really wasn't asking about military funerals as such, as I already knew that other than stateside deaths, very few funerals for soldiers took place in the US during the war.

Actually, there were a large number of military funerals state side during the war! The Army Air Force alone lost almost 15,000 pilots and aircrew in training. 320 African American Sailors were killed at Port Chicago. There were many more, some by the dozens, others just one man. The most disgraceful was the WASP pilots that died serving their country. The Government would not even pay for the bodies to be shipped home, let alone their funerals! The other women pilots took up collections to pay.

 

[Harp]

Military dead were buried overseas near where they died. Shipping bodies home for burial did not begin until the Vietnam era.

I pulled a two-month funeral/body escort detail during Vietnam-a decidedly unpleasant experience.

 

[p51]

I escorted one of my own soldiers home after he was killed and I did more than one death notifications.
It's not something I talk about in detail, other than to say it's one of the few things that war movies do seem to get right in how the woman reacts.

 

[hatguy1]

Many soldiers, like my Uncle, were killed overseas and buried there. Then the family had the option to have them returned to the states for reburial after the war. My uncle was reburied in WV in 1948, so there may have been fewer military funerals during the war than you might think.

Was that something the govt would do for the family free of charge if they so chose or would the family have to pay for it?

 

[KayEn78]

I once spoke with a lady who grew up in Bloomington, IL who played Taps during the funerals of those who died in the war (WWII) throughout that area. Back when I was in college, she, and friend of mine and I visited the town war memorial and she pointed to at least a dozen names of men she had known and then played Taps for them at their funeral service.