Battlefield casualties are summarily grouped into two categories-the dead, and the wounded. Graves registration teams collect the dead, and ambulances evacuate the wounded. But who decides who is dead? On a battlefield, anyone failing to exhibit obvious signs of life can be directed into mortuary examination channels by virtually anyone else. Medical examination is not a prerequisite for the enclosure of casualties within air tight body bags or mortuary refrigerators. There is no clear statutory requirement for completion of a death certificate even prior to embalming. This study examines the potential for error during early separation of the wounded from the dead during combat operations. No attempt is made to criticize military medicine. Attention is focused primarily upon public attitudes and military policies which allow a significant number of apparently dead casualties to bypass medical screening entirely. This thesis concludes that a possibility exists for wounded, but live, soldiers to be misdirected into graves registration channels without medical examination. The author recommends an end to the use of body bags and mortuary refrigerators-except in those cases where competent, medical authorities have made a legal certification of death. A further recommendation calls for reexamination of other military policies associated with graves registration operations.

ADA 029218 Approved for public release; Distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)