Robert Alfred Moon

Moon was presumed to have been evacuated from Betio to a transport ship, and then to a rear-area hospital. This information was recorded on his military paperwork, and his mother was notified by telegram the following month.

Minnie Moon wrote to her son several times, but received no reply – this worried her, as Robert was normally a quick correspondent. Failing to hear from him, she began sending letters to the Marine Corps for more information. Her entreaties led to an investigation into Robert’s whereabouts – and only then was it discovered that he was not on the rolls of any medical facility. In fact, nobody could confirm whether he had ever escaped Betio at all. Robert Moon was designated as missing in action; on 21 November 1944, in accordance with official policy, he was declared dead.

In March 1946, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company exhumed remains buried at a beautified plot known as Cemetery #4. Four markers were present; five remains were found, and only one could be positively identified at the time. The rest were given X-numbers and buried in Plot 1 of the Lone Palm Cemetery. Later in the decade, laboratory analysis revealed that “X-84” was a man between 22-24 years of age, approximately 175 pounds and six feet tall, who wore a size 6.5EE shoe. A pocketknife, Eversharp pencil, and 67 cents in assorted coins were found in what remained of his pockets. Tooth charts were taken, but no definitive identification could be made, and X-84 was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as an unknown.

In September 2023, X-84 was formally identified as Sergeant Robert A. Moon. A final burial has not yet been scheduled.