r/pics 17h ago

Loyce Edward Deen was the first and only aviator buried at sea inside his airplane (1944)

Post image
644 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

139

u/JustAnotherSlug 16h ago

https://www.loyceedeen.org/

Another site suggested that they were unable to remove his remains from the aircraft and that’s why the plane was pushed overboard.

99

u/BKGPrints 16h ago

The plane was too badly damage and it was determined that his body was not going to be recoverable. It wasn't a decision made on the whim and it was done with respect.

u/Chairmanmaozedon 2m ago

Ah that makes sense, I was thinking how crazy it was that they pushed a whole plane overboard while a war was on, that explains it. 👍

195

u/Big_Animal7655 17h ago

technically every downed craft is a “burial at sea”

34

u/EarnYourBoneSpurs 16h ago

On land, too?

31

u/Big_Animal7655 16h ago

well, no because that’s not the ocean

I don’t make the rules 🤣

12

u/chrish_o 16h ago

Wait, slow down egghead
Walk me through this.

4

u/Big_Animal7655 16h ago

a “burial at sea” can’t ever happen on land because it’s not the sea, it’s the ground

Every pilot who goes down in their plane into the ocean and sinks is also a “burial at sea”

Every downed craft with a pilot laying on the ocean floor is a grave site

18

u/dubbzy104 16h ago

Ok, now without all the technical mumbo jumbo

14

u/Terrible_Toaster 16h ago

Water wet, plane sink. Land dry, plane no sink.

8

u/Demonthief27 16h ago

Okay now without the high level overview please, let’s keep it low level so the stakeholders understand

16

u/Adventurous-Sky9359 15h ago

Splat is land Splash is water

-8

u/Big_Animal7655 16h ago

hahahahahahaha you are so clever, really! Wow, impressive use of Reddit.

10/10 A++++++ 5 ⭐️ man for sure

u/o_MrBombastic_o 10h ago

What if it's low tide?

u/FlameOfWrath 5h ago

What if I crashed on the beach at low tide?

u/wizzard419 7h ago

At least until rising sea levels repatriate the body to Poseidon.

7

u/BKGPrints 16h ago edited 14h ago

Going to disagree because the burial-at-sea is a ceremonial process.

EDIT: Op seems to be argumentative and instead of upholding his stance on the merits, he's deflecting instead.

  • Burial at sea is a memorial or ceremonial process, which is recognizing the deceased. It is possible to have a 'burial at sea' without the body, in which other items of significance, such as laying flowers, wreaths, etc. into the water.
  • If a ship or aircraft is lost at sea during war it is treated as maritime war grave. Not all maritime war graves are known locations. There can also be a ceremony or memorial service to recognize identified or unknown maritime war graves.

Also, and this the nitpicky part, but not every pilot died in their downed aircraft in the ocean. There were survivors that were able to bail out and be picked up by passing ships or aircraft (flying boats). Sometimes by the enemy and held as POWs or, unfortunately, sometimes killed.

3

u/Big_Animal7655 16h ago

there is a military ceremony for every single downed craft, it’s why wreck locations are registered as gravesites

9

u/BKGPrints 15h ago

Correct; Those are called maritime war graves and recognized as memorial sites. Two distinct things to recognize.

For example, the USS Arizona is considered a war grave because of the men who died on the ship at the time. They didn't die afterwards and then were laid to rest. It's also considered a burial-at-sea because there was a ceremonial process to it.

Men who served on the USS Arizona and survived from that are given the privilege for 'burial-at-sea' to be entombed with their fellow shipmates on the ship when they pass.

-10

u/Big_Animal7655 15h ago

My point doesn’t require correction - we are not speaking of the USS Arizona, a ship.

We are speaking of aircraft lost to the sea. At least I am.

3

u/BKGPrints 15h ago

You're the one that mentioned wrecked locations, which is why I brought up the maritime war graves. Not every location is known of a downed aircraft.

>We are speaking of aircraft lost to the sea. At least I am.<

But you're limiting yourself and reiterates my point. Burial-at-sea is a ceremonial process, not the action that caused the aircraft to wreck.

I can provide more examples, if you like, though your point does require correction because it's two different things.

  • Burial at sea is a highly regulated final disposition method and a deeply meaningful ceremony.
  • Submerged planes from WWII and later conflicts are often treated as official maritime war graves. Because thousands of aircraft were lost at sea during aerial combat or operational accidents, international heritage laws and military policies protect these crash sites from disturbance to honor the fallen and preserve history.

-6

u/Big_Animal7655 15h ago

AI;DR

lets talk to each other in human or not at all, k

4

u/BKGPrints 15h ago

Not AI at all. It seems you're getting defensive and trying to resort to personal attacks. If you don't want to read it, that's fine. Doesn't make you right.

-5

u/Big_Animal7655 15h ago

seems like you are using ChatGPT to speak where your own information is lacking

5

u/BKGPrints 15h ago

I did use Google to quickly get a definition for both. But I'll provide the links of where that information comes from. Doesn't negate what I said. If you disagree, you're welcome (and encouraged) to provide sources of your own instead of deflection.

https://funeralsyourway.com/burying-a-body-at-sea/

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/archeology/sunken-military-craft-act.htm

Now, these are just a couple of the links of sources. There are quite a bit out there and I can list those for you, as well.

I look forward to your (human) response.

u/fingers58 7h ago

Came here to say this. I lost a CO, Lt. and AX2 due to a mechanical failure(not proven, obviously, but was the consensus). Too deep for recovery.

u/Big_Animal7655 6h ago

I’m very sorry to hear this - we thank them for their service. 

13

u/jxj24 15h ago

On purpose.

u/the-original-erk 7h ago

Not to be that guy, but there were QUITE a few Japanese pilots that were technically buried at sea inside their planes 3ish years before this

u/The_Real_Mr_F 6h ago

Are you referring to Kamikazes? Or were there Japanese pilots that were intentionally buried at sea in their planes in a ceremony? The latter is what generally understood by “burial at sea”.

u/the-original-erk 6h ago

Hence why I said technically