During World War II-—this country lost MANY FATHERS.
I do NOT recall such a reaction from those kids——Losing a father isn’t an excuse...
There are many studies showing that a father lost through death still has positive influence as opposed to a living father who is just absent for whatever reason.
Theories abound, but part of it is that death doesn’t fracture family networks like divorce does. The single mother with multiple baby daddies almost never establishes any extended family relationships and often becomes estranged from most of her own family.