Alexander, Earnest R.
Rank and Name, Second Lieutenant Earnest R. Alexander.
Unit/placed in, V Fighter Command (Far Eastern Air Force).
Eastern was born on Dec. 19, 1922 in Blocker, Oklahoma.
Parents and Sibling, No Record Available.
Eastern entered the service from Dallas, Texas in June 8, 1942 with service number # 18082768.
Earnest died by the Japanese trying to escape them on March 26, 1945, he is honored with a Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal.
Earnest is buried/mentioned at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Manila, Metro Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines.
Walls of the missing.
Thanks to 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/
On February 27, 1945 one of seven Mustangs that took off from Biak on a flight bound for Wama Airfield on Morotai on a mission to ferry new aircraft to the 3rd Air Commando Group. During the flight roughly 30-40 miles short of their destination the formation encountered very bad weather and the formation broke up.
Bollinger and Alexander were last seen entering clouds and were never seen again. This aircraft and P-51D 44-63338 piloted by Bollinger failed to arrive. Both pilots were officially declared Missing In Action (MIA).
New Facts
Fate of the Pilot
In fact, Alexander bailed out near Obi Island to the south of Halmahera. Alexander and Bollinger were detained by Ismael Radjaloear, Imam of Laiwoei and leader of Japanese Heihe who sold both pilots to the Japanese.
On March 11, 1945 both were turned over to the Japanese and became Prisoners Of War (POW). Both men attempted to escape. On March 26, 1945 both were killed by a Japanese Army 20 man patrol.
During the middle of May 1945, an Australian Army ‘J’ Mission, Far Eastern Liaison Office (FELO) inserted an intelligence gathering party on Obi Island that learned two American pilots, Alexander and Bollinger were captured by locals and turned over to the Japanese.
Their bodies were not buried but at the end of the Pacific War the Japanese built a “burial ground” for them at Seri village (it is not clear if any remains were buried there or not. His remains were never recovered and he remains listed as Missing In Action.
