John Douglas Nix

Nix was reportedly interred in Plot A, Row 1, Grave 3 of the Second Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan – one of the very first proper burials on the island – and his family was notified. When the war ended, Claire Nix applied to have her son brought back to the United States for burial in Golden Gate National Cemetery, and presumed the proper arrangements were being made.

In February 1952, Lieutenant Colonel E. M. Brown of the Army Quartermaster Corps paid a visit to Mrs. Nix to break some bad news: John’s remains had not been identified. The body associated with his grave appeared to be that of a slightly older individual, with brownish hair (John’s was black) and a mismatched dental chart. These discrepancies had first been noted in 1948, but not divulged to the family until a final decision was reached. Without definite proof of identity, Colonel Brown explained, the Quartermaster General would follow the policy of declaring remains as unknown. “Mrs. Nix agreed and expressed thanks for the visit and the action of this office,” Brown reported. Claire Nix’s own account was somewhat different: “When Col. Brown was here I just couldn’t seem to talk as the shock was as if I had received another notice of death.”

The remains formerly identified as Nix were “found in position of Grave 3, approximately 30 feet NE of Plot A.” This confusing wording, which seems to suggest that no remains were found under the actual marker, was repeated without apparent questioning in multiple documents pertaining to Nix’s loss. In the end, X-55 was declared unidentifiable and interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as an unknown.