Death notification remains a defining symbolic role of overseas bases

Evidence

During Dr. Matt Rogers’s fifteen-month deployment to Iraq, one of his duties was to identify troops in body bags and officially declare them deceased. Back at his base in Ansbach, Germany, he has been part of several death notification teams responsible for informing spouses of the death of a deployed service member. He and others describe it as one of the most difficult things they have to do. Usually, Rogers (also a pseudonym) told me, the spouse breaks down completely, and the highest-ranking officer can’t make it through the prescribed lines: “The Secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret that…” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 466

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A Class A uniform signals death to families on overseas bases — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 468; A soldier in dress uniform on base signals death notification duty; Base personnel believe widows self-harm while widowers hurt others after notification
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: A Class A uniform signals death to families on overseas bases — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 468; A soldier in dress uniform on base signals death notification duty; Base personnel believe widows self-harm while widowers hurt others after notification