| Content Note | Includes: Handwritten letter from Mr Howard B. Nelson, the father of the casualty, explaining the circumstances of his son's death and requesting for his body to be brought back to the USA, dated 25 March 1918; Burial report providing summary of Sapper Nelson's admission to hospital and death on 28 February 1918, undated; Letter from Mr Henry Thomas Rainey, a member of the Democratic Party from Illinois, writing on behalf of Mr Nelson in regards to his request to have his son's body repatriated, dated 2 April 1919; Typed letter from 2nd Lieutenant William H. Chambers, US Army and a close relative of Sapper Nelson, requesting for Nelson's body to be repatriated back to the USA, dated 14 May 1919; Letter from Henry Thomas Rainey referring back to the case of Nelson and the practice of repatriating the bodies of all American soldiers back to the USA, dated 23 May 1919; Typed letter from Colonel Charles C. Pierce, Chief of the American Graves Registration Service, requesting that the AGRS be granted custody of Nelson's body so it could be repatriated, dated 9 January 1920; Typed letter from Brigadier-General E.S. Bowder, DGRE, referring to a similar case in which the body of an American who served with British forces was handed over to the AGRS, dated 13 February 1920; Typed letter from Major L.A. Shipman, QMC to Colonel H.T. Goodland requesting for the AGRS be given custody of Nelson's body so it may be repatriated, dated 18 March 1920; Typed response letter from Colonel Goodland advising why it would not be possible for Nelson's body to be repatriated, dated 27 March 1920; Typed letter from Lord Arthur Browne regarding future cases of exhuming Americans who served in British units, dated 20 May 1920; Typed letter from William H. Chambers of Washington University, St Louis, regarding the question of the removal of Nelson's body to the USA, dated 13 September 1921; Signed declaration by James McNabb confirming Nelson's status as a US citizen, dated 10 March 1921; Signed declaration by Dr James Howard Burns confirming Nelson's status as a US citizen, dated 10 March 1921; Copy letter from Lord Arthur Browne regarding Nelson's case and the Commission's policy regarding repatriation, dated 22 March 1922; Handwritten letter from Henry T. Rainey regarding request for the repatriation of Nelson's body, dated 29 April 1922; Copy letter from J.M. Carson, Acting Quartermaster General of the US War Department to Mr H.B. Nelson explaining it would not be possible to repatriate his son's body and it would cared for by the IWGC, dated 24 May 1922; Copy letter from Mr H.B. Nelson to the American Graves Registration Service insisting on repatriating his son's body back to the USA, dated 20 January 1921; Copy letter from W. O'Maloney, Overseas General of the League of Nations Union, addressed to Colonel Heath of the British Legion regarding next of kin's request for Nelson's body to be repatriated, dated 4 July 1923. |
| Cemetery_Name | LONGUENESSE (ST. OMER) SOUVENIR CEMETERY |