WHERE THEY ARE BURIED

 This lesson will introduce students to the burial procedures for soldiers killed in battle overseas during WWII. A focus will be on the American cemeteries overseas and the Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii.  

 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Of the 16.4 million troops who fought in World War II, 416,800 did not survive. The Graves Registration Service recovered the remains of more than 280,000 service members from all theaters of action following the war. Of these, 171,752 returned to the continental United States via the “Return of the Dead Program” and over 92,000 were interred at America’s overseas cemeteries with another 78,985 commemorated on our Tablets of the Missing as missing in action, lost or buried at sea. Some are still being found. 

 Today, the American Battle Monuments Commission maintains 26 American military cemeteries overseas. ABMC headquarters is located in Arlington, Va. A Paris-based office has operational responsibility for ABMC’s overseas cemeteries and memorials. 

 OBJECTIVES: At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to • Conduct research as it relates to historical issues. • Identify the American cemeteries overseas. STANDARDS: R.L. 30 Synthesize research using responsible and ethical practices to create and orally present clear, coherent products demonstrating command of language that is suitable for the target audience and purpose. D.L. 18 18 Create and deliver an oral presentation, created collaboratively from individual contributions, that is suitable in purpose and tone for its intended audience and occasion