Osama Bin Laden: dead

[NbyNW]

Thanks for the funny, Pam!

Just had another thought on the burial-at-sea thing.

Before it was an honor, it was a necessity. If a sailor died at sea in the old days, they didn't necessarily have a way to preserve or transport the body for a land burial, especially if there were concerns about illness spreading on board.

Mutineers could be put to death for their actions and therefore also buried at sea. Don't know what the policy would have been for saying words or prayers for their souls, but I think in general they got prayers at the very least. Honors was a different matter. It was a very different time.

For some a burial at sea might be viewed as an honor but for others it might be agonizing to not know the final resting place of a loved one. Any maritime historians know more about this?