With no body, no tomb, and no death certificate it was unimaginable how anyone could accept such a fate for a loved one. Soldiers were equipped with metal tags bearing their first and last names with the date of induction on one side and the registration number on the other. At times during the war, when a side retreated there was no retrieval of the dead and if there were vast casualties the dead would be buried rapidly. With the vast casualties and displacement of bodies it was difficult for France to identify and notify all the families. Many were left with the notification that their loved one had gone missing which made it difficult to have any final mourning. Soldiers found it in their duty to inform their comrade’s families of their loss. Germany and France worked to reduce the number of missing soldiers through the use of the dog tag system and reducing the mass burials. This allowed more families to receive the death certificate and not a status of missing which then helped to continue the mourning
With no body, no tomb, and no death certificate it was unimaginable how anyone could accept such a fate for a loved one. Soldiers were equipped with metal tags bearing their first and last names with the date of induction on one side and the registration number on the other. At times during the war, when a side retreated there was no retrieval of the dead and if there were vast casualties the dead would be buried rapidly. With the vast casualties and displacement of bodies it was difficult for France to identify and notify all the families. Many were left with the notification that their loved one had gone missing which made it difficult to have any final mourning. Soldiers found it in their duty to inform their comrade’s families of their loss. Germany and France worked to reduce the number of missing soldiers through the use of the dog tag system and reducing the mass burials. This allowed more families to receive the death certificate and not a status of missing which then helped to continue the mourning