How could they not have someone deliver those notifications. Arent all these families on base.Surely they could of spared someone in uniform plus get a local priest or preacher to help out. Just a dumb move..
shareFor all the complaints of the leftists that somehow this movie was pro-war and pro-military (other than obvious sympathy for the troops caught up in it), the reality is that the stateside brass *do not* come across as competent or virtuous in this film.
shareThat's actually how the US Army used to do it. And it was Hal Moore's wife complaining to the pentagon after the events of this movie that made them abandon that policy and start sending the news via a messenger.
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If I could stop a rapist from raping a child I would. That's the difference between me and god.
That's exactly how the families of the 417,000 US military fatalities in World War II, approximately seven times the fatalities in Vietnam, were notified, by telegram delivered by a Western Union employee. From the Civil War to World War I, telegrams weren't even sent to individual families, but casualty lists were posted on the telegraph office bulletin boards. Sending an individual service member to deliver the news along with a clergyman didn't start until a point in the Vietnam War sometime after Julia Moore took on that responsibility locally at Fort Benning.
share^ THIS.
shareat the real time of when this movie takes place, there was not plan in place as they did not anticipate the number of casualties. thankfully, this was changed to have a chaplain and a designated officer go to the family's home to give notification.
the one part of the movie that still gives me chills is when Julie Moore sees the western union car pull up at her house. the reason is that when I was a military wife I was working in the garden and saw the chaplain and officer pull up at my curb (there is a title for that officer but I can't remember it.) being a military brat, I knew what that meant and I since I was on my knees in the dirt I just stayed there. the officer and chaplain took off their covers and addressed me as a mrs. someone - not my name. I told them they had the wrong address but realized that they had transposed the numbers of the housing units. I pointed them to where they needed to go and when the feeling came back into my legs I went into the house and cried for the rest of the day. it was a horrible feeling and that scene and her anger takes the breath out of each time I watch it.
(there is a title for that officer but I can't remember it.)
Actually, come to think of it, the Casualty Assistance Officer was the individual assigned to follow up with funeral arrangements and other benefit disbursements for the next of kin.
The individual assigned to deliver the bad news to the next of kin didn't have a job title, it was an additional duty for someone stationed near the next of kin who either volunteered or drew the short straw. Not necessarily a commissioned officer, but could be an NCO if no commissioned officer was available. (The individual just had to be of equal or higher rank than the deceased.) My first year in the military, as an Air Force ROTC cadet, was the last year of the Vietnam War. The Air Force ROTC detachment staff at my college weren't called for that duty when I was there, but some of the NCOs in the staff talked about how they occasionally had that assignment in recent years, as they were almost an hour away from the nearest Air Force Base and delivering the news in person needed to be done ASAP. They also recalled times when they were slapped or punched by the next of kin.
I ended up spending the next 29 years in one active or reserve component of the Air Force or Army, and am grateful I never drew that short straw.
The Casualty Notification Officer is the one who knocks on the door and delivers the news. It is a rotational extra duty that officers and NCOs are assigned. You'll know when you're next in line should that duty arise, and you have to have your dress uniform within reach and respond within a couple hours of being told. The Casualty Assistance Officer then shows up a couple hours later (also a rotational extra duty) and stays in contact with the family from Day 1 until after the funeral and all legal and financial matters are settled with the family. A Casualty Escort Officer flies out to meet the service member (Dover Air Force Base if it's a combat casualty) and flies with them to their final burial location. The CAO also escorts the family to the funeral. A Summary Court Martial Officer takes care of the paperwork back home and gathers up the personal affects (if single) to remove that service member from the military while another Summary Court Martial Officer in the combat zone does the same. It's quite a process when someone dies in the military. I've done all of these but the CAO position.
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