Page "Headhunting" Paragraph 30

During World War II, Allied ( specifically including American ) troops occasionally collected the skulls of dead Japanese as personal trophies, as souvenirs for friends and family at home, and for sale to others.

( The practice was unique to the Pacific theater ; German and Italian skulls were not taken.

) The Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, in September 1942, mandated strong disciplinary action for any soldier who took enemy body parts as souvenirs.

Nevertheless, trophy-hunting persisted: Life, in its issue of 22 May 1944, published a photograph of a young woman posing with the autographed skull sent to her by her Navy boyfriend, causing significant public outcry.