Remains of World War 2 Marine to be buried in Nashville

Remains of a U.S. Marine who was wounded on the Pacific Ocean island of Saipan during World War II have been identified and he will be buried in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, officials said.

Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. William R. Ragsdale, 23, is scheduled to be buried Aug. 6 in Nashville, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release Friday.

Ragsdale was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division during the battle on Saipan in June 1944, the agency said.

Ragsdale was first reported as wounded in action. He was unable to be found during the chaos surrounding the battle and its aftermath. His status was changed to missing in action, and then later deceased, the agency said.

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Investigators searched on Saipan but could not find Ragsdale’s remains. He was declared nonrecoverable in September 1949.

Later, remains designated as Unknown X-6, 27th Infantry Division Cemetery, were recovered from Saipan and buried in the Philippines. Those remains were sent in 2020 to a Hawaii laboratory for dental, anthropological and DNA analysis,

The remains were found to be Ragsdale’s and he was officially accounted for in April, the agency said.

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