Washington –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Coxswain (Cox) Harley E. Alexander, 22, of New Madison, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Mar. 22, 2024.
On June 8, 1944, Alexander was assigned to the destroyer USS Glennon, which struck a mine off the coast of Quinnéville, France, which forced 16 sailors overboard. Ultimately, the majority of the crew had abandoned the vessel, but a few remained on board for salvage operations, including Alexander. Two days later, on June 10, the Glennon was struck by multiple artillery barrages from German forces on shore, eventually causing the ship to sink late in the evening. Following the attack, 38 sailors had been wounded and 25 were missing, including Cox Alexander. Other than the rescued sailors thrown overboard from the initial mine strike, there is not report of any recovery of other missing sailors. The remains of Cox Alexander were not accounted for and he was deemed non-recoverable on May 4, 1949.
In 1957, pieces of Glennon were hauled to shore by salvagers. A local resident was searching through the larger sections of wreckage and found human remains within the forward portion of the ship. The remains were turned over to American officials and processing determined the remains to be those of at least two individuals, subsequently designated X-9296 and X-9297. After unsuccessful efforts to identify the remains, they were interred on 4 March 1959 in Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupré, Belgium.
In 2021, DPAA researchers began an effort to associate unresolved sailors from the Glennon based on historical documentation of the remains removed from the ship’s wreckage. By August 2022, the Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed unknown remains X-9296 and X-9297 from Ardennes American Cemetery for comparison with unaccounted-for sailors from Glennon.
To identify Alexander’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.
Alexander’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, England, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Cox Alexander will be buried in New Madison, Ohio, on June 29, 2024.
For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.
DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Navy for their partnership in this mission.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.