Antwerp, Belgium, Oct. 4, 1947: A casket picked at random from the 5,000 aboard the transport ship Joseph V. Connelly to symbolize World War II dead is returned aboard for its voyage home.

Ten-thousand Americans and Belgians gathered in the streets of Antwerp to honor the war dead symbolized by the lone casket. As it made its way through the city’s ancient streets, thousands of American servicemembers and Belgian citizens stood witness at the ceremony on the old Market Square, and lined the streets to the harbor.

Ceremonies to honor the dead from World War II were held simultaneously in 37 temporary cemeteries and 26 U.S. embassies and diplomatic offices throughout Europe.

Notice a bit of discoloration in the sky? The original negative that this image was captured on suffers from a preservation issue called “silvering,” where the silver particles rise to the top of the gelatin layer of the film. During a preservation survey of Stripes’ photo collection in 2018, archives staff found that especially the 4x5 negatives from the late 1940s and early 1950s were suffering the most from this preservation issue. As the “silvering” will eventually cause the image captured on the negative to fade, the affected negatives were pulled and prioritized for scanning.