{"id":104320,"date":"2022-01-26T07:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T12:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/?p=104320"},"modified":"2026-03-24T15:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:48:42","slug":"object-6-repatriation-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-6-repatriation-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Object 6:\u00a01948 Repatriation Album of Alaska World War II Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Album<\/a>
Album of photographs and news clippings created by U.S. Army\u00a0Command,\u00a0Alaska. (NCA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

National cemeteries played a role in the repatriation process for\u00a0Service\u00a0members who died outside of the United States during the two world wars. After World War II, the\u00a0Federal\u00a0Government provided families a choice:\u00a0burial in a permanent overseas cemetery, stateside national cemetery, or private cemetery with a\u00a0Government-issued headstone<\/a>.\u00a0More than 171,000 families opted for repatriation and about 20 percent were re-interred in national cemeteries between 1947 and 1951. Officially called the \u201cReturn of the Dead Program,\u201d this effort involved logistical challenges reminiscent of wartime operations. A scrapbook created by\u00a0U.S. Army Command, Alaska,\u00a0provides\u00a0a detailed view of how the repatriation process worked.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on decisions by the families of men who died in Alaska Territory, which was\u00a0then categorized as \u201coverseas,\u201d\u00a0approximately 126\u00a0were buried in Sitka and Fort Richardson\u00a0National\u00a0Cemeteries. Another 1,570 were transported from Sitka to San Francisco on the Army transport\u00a0Honda Knot<\/em>. Elaborate services were held both\u00a0in\u00a0cemeteries and shipside. The Army created an album of repatriation services conducted there between May and September 1948 to record the operations. The 33-page album is made of thick cardstock and measures about 10\u201d x 12\u201d. Its pages\u00a0contain\u00a0approximately 20 black-and-white 8\u201d x 10\u201d photographs, along with photocopies of newspaper clippings, lists of dead buried in Alaska, and ceremonial programs. The album is the only one of its kind in the NCA History Collection and is an important artifact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alaska repatriation operations mirrored those undertaken across the globe. Service\u00a0members buried in temporary wartime cemeteries were\u00a0located, exhumed, and reburied in interim locations while families made final burial decisions. The choice was left to widows of the deceased if they had not remarried, and then to parents if there was no eligible widow. Bodies returned home from the Pacific\u00a0Theater went to San Francisco while those from Europe were transported to New York City. They were then loaded into special mortuary trains and shipped to regional distribution centers across the country. From there, they were given a military escort to the final burial location.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Solders<\/a>
Soldiers guarding the caskets of six repatriated Service members and one civilian prior to burial in Sitka National Cemetery, September 5, 1948. (NCA)\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The decision on a final burial location was intensely personal. Some families wanted their loved one to rest with comrades where they died. Others chose repatriation because interment in a stateside cemetery would allow more frequent visits. The establishment of seven new national cemeteries after the First World War in more heavily populated locales made these an appealing\u00a0option\u00a0for many families.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View the National Cemetery Administration\u2019s World War II 75th Commemorative Series\u00a0\u201cAmerica\u2019s World War II Burial Program<\/a>\u201d\u00a0to learn more about America\u2019s World War II\u00a0repatriation program.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National cemeteries played a role in the repatriation process for servicemembers who died outside of the United States during the two world wars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":117232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[20,125,88,8],"class_list":["post-104320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-100-objects","tag-national-cemetery-administration","tag-national-cemetery-system","tag-repatriation","tag-world-war-ii"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-6-repatriation-album\/","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Object 6:\u00a01948 Repatriation Album of Alaska World War II Dead","url":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-6-repatriation-album\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/object-6-repatriation-album\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/01\/WWII-Repatriation.2-scaled.webp?w=300","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/history\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/01\/WWII-Repatriation.2-scaled.webp"},"articleSection":"History of VA in 100 Objects","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Department of Veterans Affairs (jdt)"}],"creator":["Department of Veterans Affairs (jdt)"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"VA History","logo":""},"keywords":["national cemetery administration","national cemetery system","repatriation","world war ii"],"dateCreated":"2022-01-26T12:59:00Z","datePublished":"2022-01-26T12:59:00Z","dateModified":"2026-03-24T19:48:42Z"},"rendered":"