Woodie Jr. Dixon, age 23, from Alabama, Mobile county.
Service era: World War II
Military history: 45th Infantry Division
Date of death: Wednesday, October 25, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Mobile National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Lendell Lee, age 28, from Wilmer, Alabama, Mobile county.
Parents: Toxey Lee
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Sergeant Lendell Lee, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Nevada, served with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, which took part in the Battle of Tarawa. On November 20, 1943, he was killed in action. He was buried in Cemetery #11 on Betio Island, but after the war his remains were not located. Today, Sergeant Lee is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Louie Wiggins from Mobile, Alabama, Mobile county.
Parents: Frances Marie Wiggins
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, September 11, 1943
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Edward H. McDaniel, age 21, from Mobile, Alabama, Mobile county.
Parents: Emmet E. McDaniel
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, September 14, 1942
Cemetery: Mobile National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Robert Joseph Kearney, age 21, from Mobile, Alabama, Mobile county.
Parents: Denis J. Kearney
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, September 10, 1942
Cemetery: Mobile National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Benjamin Davis, age 25, from Alabama, Mobile county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, August 28, 1942
Death details: Died non-battle
Cemetery: Mobile National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Ralph J. Kearney from Alabama, Mobile county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, July 15, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Staff Sergeant Ralph J. Kearney entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Alabama and served with the 20th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria on July 15, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Staff Sergeant Kearney is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Orivel K. Morris from Alabama, Mobile county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, June 24, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Corporal Orivel K. Morris joined the U.S. Army from Alabama and was a member of the 31st Infantry Regiment. He was captured by Japanese forces in the Philippines and held as a prisoner of war at the Cabanatuan camp. CPL Morris died of disease at Cabanatuan on June 24, 1942. He was reportedly buried at the camp cemetery; however, investigations of Cabanatuan after the war failed to locate or identify his remains. Today, Corporal Morris is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Tedd McKinley Furr, age 39, from Chickasaw, Alabama, Mobile county.
Parents: Minnie Furr
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for November 5, 2020
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense
Samuel M. Fillingim, age 22, from Whistler, Alabama, Mobile county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Tuesday, November 5, 1918
Death details: Died of disease
Cemetery: McLaurin, Forest County, Mississippi
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com, findagrave.com