Francis John LaFex
PFC Francis J. LaFex served with Fox Company, Second Battalion, 23rd Marines.
He was reported missing in action at Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 954184
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by DPAA
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 20, 1923
at Watertown, NY
Parents
Hugh James LaFex
Catherine Elizabeth (Jocquie) LaFex
Education
Details unknown
Occupation & Employer
What & Where
Service Life
Entered Service
May 17, 1944
at Albany, NY
Home Of Record
32 Morton Avenue
Albany, NY
Next Of Kin
Wife, Mrs. Elizabeth M. (Barber) LaFex
Military Specialty
Machine gunner (MOS 604)
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart (Iwo)
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 19 February 1945, the Second Battalion, 23rd Marines – including PFC Francis LaFex in Fox Company – landed on an Iwo Jima beach codenamed Yellow 2. Within minutes, Japanese mortar rounds began landing among the Marines packed on the beach, and small-arms fire rattled as they tried to advance. A pair of large blockhouses took a heavy toll on 2/23 as they attempted to move towards their objective at Motoyama Airfield.
PFC LaFex was last seen alive in the vicinity of Yellow 2. PFC Rene L. LaCroix saw LaFex, loaded down with boxes of ammunition, hustling over a “mound on the beach.” When LaCroix reached the mound, LaFex was gone. He never reached his destination and was reported as missing in action.
No identifiable trace of Francis LaFex was ever found, and he was ultimately declared dead on 20 February 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
Unknown; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of wife, Mrs. Elizabeth LaFex
Location Of Loss
LaFex was last seen in the vicinity of Beach Yellow 2, Iwo Jima.
