U.S. Army Pfc Robert L. Alexander Funeral [Image 10 of 23]

UNITED STATES

11.14.2022

Photo by Sun Vega 

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), fold the Nation's flag during Army Private First Class Robert L. Alexander's full military honors funeral, in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Nov. 14, 2022.

Alexander was killed during World War II and was accounted for on June 21, 2022.

In July 1944, Alexander was a member of the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, fighting the Japanese on Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Alexander was killed July 7 when the Japanese general on Saipan ordered his forces into a mass suicide, or “banzai,” attack against the 105th's lines.

Following the end of the war, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) was tasked with investigating and recovering missing American personnel in the Pacific Theater. They searched for and disinterred remains on Saipan, but could not identify any as Alexander. He was declared non-recoverable in September 1949.

Remains, designated as Unknown X-27 27th Infantry Division Cemetery, were recovered from Saipan and interred in the Fort William McKinley Cemetery, now the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in the Philippines.

After thorough historical research, it was determined that X-27 could likely be identified. On Jan. 22, 2019, Unknown X-27 was disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.

Alexander’s name is recorded in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from World War II. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

• Date Taken: 11.14.2022
• Date Posted: 11.14.2022 15:26
• Photo ID: 7512236
• VIRIN: 221114-D-TT930-012
• Resolution: 1100x619
• Size: 954.24 KB
• Location: US