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Re:Discovering WW1 tunnel of death hidden in France for a ce... by ggm on Sunday March 14, 2021 @10:36PM (#26462015)
The intersection of respect for the dead, battlefield amateurs and looting, war grave status, officialdom, archaeology, a citizen scientist, sad, terrifying and fascinating all at the same time.
Re:Discovering WW1 tunnel of death hidden in France for a ce... by coldcode on Monday March 15, 2021 @07:16AM (#26464545)
Some people might call them the enemy, some say they should just leave them be, but they are someone's ancestors (or related), and those people should know what happened to them. My uncle died in WW2 and no one knows where (potentially in the ocean near Tunisia); reading his last letter to his parents, I would certainly want to know where he is buried. He still has a living sister as well. Just because someone was a soldier does not make them some anonymous drone.
Re:Discovering WW1 tunnel of death hidden in France for a ce... by kergonath on Monday March 15, 2021 @10:55AM (#26466739)
They were the enemy of some people’s ancestors a century ago. They are not ennemies of anyone now. They are only victims of a terrible war, exactly in the same ways as the people they were fighting then.

One branch of my family was decimated back then: 4 cousins died in WWI, all the males of that generation. The only thing I wish to their enemies is to rest in peace and keep them in our memory to avoid such a senseless massacre in the future. If this finding brings some comfort to some people because they found a family member, then it’s great. The tunnel should be a museum, and a warning of the horrors brought by nationalism.

Loss at sea is difficult, because locations are often uncertain and documentation is sparse. I know I learnt a lot looking for traces of these people in archives and on the ground (obviously harder for sunken ships). I hope you’ll find out what happened eventually.

Re:Discovering WW1 tunnel of death hidden in France for a ce... by ggm on Monday March 15, 2021 @08:32PM (#26471402)
>Loss at sea is difficult, because locations are often uncertain and documentation is sparse.

When found, not safe.

People are now predating these sites, to get valuable pre-nuclear-bomb scrap for use in detectors. Divers are reporting that official war-grave wrecks are being destroyed by scavengers.