When did the United States military begin requiring in person announcements of family member deaths?

[Bear_Nenno]

@Loach

The worst part was that when the unit deployed to Vietnam the families were told since the soldier was no longer at Fort Benning the families had to move out of base housing.

Still happens to US military families stationed in Europe and other places outside the USA. The spouse and family lose their SOFA status and their visa, so they have as little as 90 days to leave the country. That means they are packing up their house and family, changing schools and looking for a new job–all while dealing with the grief of the death itself.

[MikeS]

The original “Final Salute” article appears to be available via the WayBack Machine.

[Loach]

@Bear_Nenno

@Loach

The worst part was that when the unit deployed to Vietnam the families were told since the soldier was no longer at Fort Benning the families had to move out of base housing.

Still happens to US military families stationed in Europe and other places outside the USA. The spouse and family lose their SOFA status and their visa, so they have as little as 90 days to leave the country. That means they are packing up their house and family, changing schools and looking for a new job–all while dealing with the grief of the death itself.

I’m not talking about after they died. The 1st Cav was at Benning training as the testbed of the Air Cav concept. When the unit deployed to Vietnam they were no longer considered a Benning unit so the families had to leave. Wives and children of soldiers sent off to war were evicted out of base housing. Some found places in Columbus but many had to move back with their parents wherever they came from and couldn’t rely on any support from the military.

In the movie it was more dramatic with Julia Moore going to every house with the news. In reality she could go to those who decided to stay close but many of the families moved far away out of necessity.

[Kropotkin]

And merchant ships were more likely to be targeted by U-Boats than naval vessels were

[Loach]

@Loach

The main driving force to change it did come from Julia Compton Moore. With a little poetic license it was shown in the movie We Were Soldiers. Her husband was the battalion commander of the first major ground battle in Viet Nam. When casualty reports started coming in she set up an informal notification network. She actively fought for it to become policy with the Pentagon which it did.

I don’t know the exact date but it changed in the mid 60s.

Vietnam-era events featured in today's Soldier Show inspired changes to notification process in '65 | Article | The United States Army

Update: Fort Benning has been renamed Fort Moore in honor of LTG Hal Moore and also his wife Julia Moore who did start many Army family programs including casualty notification.

Georgia's Fort Benning renamed Fort Moore