Rank and Name, First Lieutenant Robert Austin Alexander.

Unit/Placed, Marine Fighter Squadron 214, M(arine)A(ir)G(roup) 11, United States Navy.

Robert was born on Jan. 24, 1921 in Kamrar, Iowa.

Parents and Siblings, No Record Available.

Robert enlisted the Navy in Davenport, Iowa on April,1942 with service number # No Record.

Robert’s rank/duty was a First Lieutenant/Pilot flying with the 214^th Marine Fighter Squadron flying a  F4U-Corsair.

Robert A. Alexander died when his Aircraft crashed at Kolombangara, New Georgia due to friendly fire (PT-Boats) , on Sep. 30, 1943.

Robert is buried/mentioned at Davenport Memorial Park, Davenport, Scott County, Iowa, USA.

Thanks to https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/f4u/alexander.html Jean Louis Vijgen, ABMC,  https://abmc.gov Info P.O.W.

Wes Injerd, Dwight Rider: http://www.mansell.com/pow-index.html

NavyLog, http://navylog.navymemorial.org Philippine Scouts Heritage Society, Sean Conjenos, http://www.philippine-scouts.org/

Familysearch.com, https://www.familysearch.org Navy Marines Info Geoffrey Roecker, https://missingmarines.com/ Medals Info, http://www.honorstates.org Website, https://hendrikswebdesign.nl/ 

The third Corsair fighter was piloted by 1STLT Robert Austin Alexander and as he approached the trio of PT boats he fired on them resulting in casualties aboard PT-126.  Whether he fired intentionally or accidentally is not known but his actions resulted in the trio of PT boats returning fire.  Alexander’s plane was seriously damaged by their gunfire and he guided it to nearby Kolombangara Island where it crashed killing him.  On December 5 a group from VMF-214 journeyed to Kolombangara which was still in Japanese control.  They reported that it was not hard to find the plane because in crashing it had cut a path through the palm trees 50 feet wide and nearly 100 feet long.  1STLT Alexander was found in the wreckage.  The group buried his body in the sand near the crashed plane.  When the island came under U.S. control his body was recovered and sent to Manila in the Philippines.  In 1948 his body was returned to the U.S. for permanent burial at the Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery in Davenport, Iowa.