Renville County North Dakota

Beatty, Ivan Clarence
Marines Reserves Private

Ivan Clarence Beatty, age 20, from Renville County Rockford, North Dakota .

Parents: Ronan Beatty

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, September 15, 1944
Death details: In September 1944, American forces launched Operation STALEMATE II, the invasion on Peleliu, an island in Palau. On Sept. 15, the 1st Marine Division came ashore under enemy fire. The following day, Marines secured the island’s airfield despite taking heavy casualties. The battle for Peleliu lasted another two months, as Marines were forced to clear heavily fortified pockets of Japanese resistance across the island. The 1st Marine Division, reinforced by the 81st Infantry Division, slowly advanced north under nearly constant mortar and artillery fire. The invasion of Peleliu had the highest casualty rate of all the amphibious Pacific Island invasions of World War II. Private Ivan Clarence Beatty, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Washington, was a member of 3rd Armored Amphibian Battalion, Amphibian Team Group, Fleet Marine Force. He went missing in action on Peleliu Island on September 15, 1944, when he was one of four tank crew members inside a T-13 tank destroyer that exploded. The tank was witnessed to disappear in a tremendous mine explosion, and there was no sign of any individuals including Private Beatty remaining in the aftermath. Private Beatty has not been associated with any remains recovered from Peleliu Island following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private Beatty is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Manila American

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Associated Press (1944)

Alexander, Robert L.
Army Private 1st class

Robert L. Alexander from North Dakota, Renville county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, July 7, 1944
Death details: On June 21, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Robert L. Alexander, missing from World War II. Private First Class Alexander entered the U.S. Army from North Dakota and served with Company A, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. On July 7, 1945, he was killed in action during the Battle of Saipan as his unit defended against a Japanese attack in the area of Tanapag. PFC Alexander’s remains were not recovered or identified following his loss. In 2019, the DPAA disinterred a set of unidentified remains that had been recovered from Saipan and buried at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. The remains were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory, where they were identified as those of PFC Alexander.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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